De Profundis
by texaspeach
Summary: Now back in his own time, Gohan struggles to fit back in with his family and friends after his experiences in the past. Will he try to lift himself out of his depression alone or accept the help of those who love him? Sequel to "Alea Iacta Est".
1. Possession

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

* * *

Here begins Part Two of _Sic Veta Est_.

**Chapter 1: Possession**

Gohan struggled vainly with the chains that bound him to the wall of the strange room. He did not know what they were made of, but they had somehow been reinforced with something that made them strong enough to resist even his colossal strength. Giving up against the shackles for the moment, he scowled and sat petulantly on the floor, still trying to figure out how he had gotten himself into this (rather embarrassing) predicament.

The demi-Saiyan supposed that he could start with the mess that had been the Cell Games seven long years ago. After defeating Cell, he had somehow been sent thirty years into the past. He landed on the about-to-be-destroyed Vegeta-sei and consequently decided that, no, he did not want to die, thank you very much. He killed Frieza (easily of course) and then somehow ended up living with his grandfather Bardock and his uncle Raditz. After a messy series of events – including a pissed off king, a rather helpful commander, and several thousand palace guards, not to mention an extremely screwed up timeline – the three Saiyans had been forced to flee the planet or else be killed. They had spent the next seven years in space meeting surprising people, making surprising friends, and discovering a new level of Super Saiyan before getting the message that King Cold had attacked Vegeta-sei. Bardock was able to kill Cold after finally reaching the Super Saiyan level, but it was far too late to save the planet. They decided to go to Earth both to train Kakarotto – Gohan's future father – and to wish Gohan back to his own time. Gohan had originally stayed in the timeline to fix what he had messed up and get history back on track, but the Supreme Kai had intervened with a barely understandable explanation consisting of rocks in time streams, ordering Bardock to force his grandson home. Gohan agreed to return home (with much reluctance, it should be noted). And now he was chained to a wall in a steel room. Life could not get much better than this.

Gohan growled audibly, letting his instincts get the better of him for a moment. The journey through time and space this time around had been even worse than the last. The first time he had been able to collect himself quickly enough and get a lock on his surroundings, something that saved him from making painful contact with the ground. The way the Dragon had sent him was shorter but much more intense, leaving him virtually blind in all senses physical and otherwise. His entire surroundings had been whipped out from underneath him, like taking a tablecloth out from under a full dish set. Though he had landed on his feet, he had been out of it long enough for whomever it was that had kidnapped him to be able to knock him out. The teenager was definitely glad that his grandfather and uncle were not there to see him in his current predicament. Bardock would scold him for failing to pay attention to his surroundings and Raditz would laugh his ass off in the background at the scolding. He could not even guarantee that they would rescue him first; more than likely they would sit back and watch the fun that was Gohan trying to escape his subjugators.

The sliding of the door of what was for all intents and purposes his jail cell alerted Gohan to the fact that he had visitors. He understandably wanted to know who his captors were, seeing as the only person he had seen was one low-level flunky with a stylized "M" tattoo on his forehead. He had tremblingly brought in food and water, neither in enough quantities to sustain a Saiyan, even a hybrid. Or perhaps "especially" a hybrid would be better: Bardock had run several tests on Gohan's blood and they had shown that Gohan actually required more sustenance than a full-blooded Saiyan to maintain the same energy level. Gohan had not really listened to the explanation and only vaguely heard something about the blood mixing the way it did was straining his body as he grew. It did not matter anymore – he was finished growing, he hoped.

Two people came into the room. One was a tall man, red-skinned, with horns gracing the crown of his head and a malicious smile crossing his thin lips. The stylized "M" was tattooed on his forehead as well, and it pulsed ever so slightly. Gohan had no doubt that this was the person who had rendered him unconscious. His energy was greater than Cell's had been, and the second being was much too puny to have done any serious damage physically. He looked like a wrinkled yellow onion with sparse hairs, but his energy was quite large for someone so small. It also felt different from a normal martial artist ki, though the demi-Saiyan could not explain why.

The yellow being smiled. "Well, well, what have we here? A monkey caught in a cage?" His voice was high and whiny, annoying to Gohan's superior hearing. It was almost as annoying as the insult.

"Do I look like I'm searching for insects in my hair?" the teenager retorted, glaring at the strange creature. "I'm a Saiyan, you moron. There's a big difference."

"Of course there is," the thing agreed pleasantly. "A monkey knows its place." The oily, unctuous voice slid over Gohan's ears and the demi-Saiyan was hard-pressed not to shudder. Ugh, this guy was disgusting! His appearance was as unpleasant as his voice. The teenager decided to ignore it as best he could in favor of some much more important questions.

"Who the hell are you?" Gohan demanded. "Why did you lock me up in here?"

The person looked positively gleeful that Gohan had asked such questions and it made the prisoner reflexively wary. "I am Babadi, son of Bibidi," he answered proudly. "I am a Majin, what the people on this pathetic planet call a wizard. I am here to resurrect Majin Buu, my father's most brilliant creation. As to why you are chained up like this…" The Majin trailed off, tapping his chin speculatively and ignoring Gohan's eye roll at his arrogance if he saw it. "Here, let me show you." A crystal ball suddenly appeared in between captor and captive. "Look closely!" Babadi ordered. "You'll enjoy this, I'm sure." Somewhat against his will, Gohan looked at the picture forming within. He was not sure that he wanted to know what had happened, but he knew that he needed to know in order to fight back effectively. Know your enemy, right? That was what Bardock would say.

_Babadi and the tall red man stood over Gohan's unconscious body. "Master Babadi," the giant rumbled, "is this Saiyan really worth so much? His heart is unusually pure."_

_The Majin laughed. "His heart? Oh yes, it's pure, no question about that. But his mind, Dabura, look into his mind! There's a large piece in there that's practically overflowing with negative emotions. How interesting that he's been able to keep it from overcoming him and infecting his pure heart. How fortunate for us!"_

Gohan raised an eyebrow in slight trepidation. Fortunate? He was not sure that he liked the sound of that.

_Dabura looked down at his master blandly. "Fortunate, Master Babadi?"_

"_Of course, you fool!" Babadi snapped. "The more he fights against it, the stronger it becomes. If I can harness it, bring it forward, this boy could well be as strong as you! I wonder…" A crystal ball appeared in front of him. "Pa-pa-ra-pa-pa!" he cried out, stretching his frail hands toward the ball._

_Immediately Gohan awakened, arching his back in pain as he screamed incoherently. Dabura was startled by the sheer agony of the screams, but recovered quickly. After all, he was the king of demons; he used to hear things like this every day. Neither of them expected the Saiyan to erupt in a golden aura, his eyes turning green and his hair blond as he tried to fight whatever was happening, but it did not faze them much. It was unimportant._

_Babadi began to sweat. Whatever he was doing was obviously taking more effort than he had anticipated. Soon enough however, he relaxed, grinning widely as Gohan suddenly stopped screaming and lay prone on the ground. "Get up, my faithful servant," he ordered._

_Slowly, oh so slowly, Gohan rose to his feet. Green eyes opened lazily, alight with malice. The electricity that always accompanied the second level of Super Saiyan sparked dangerously as it peppered the floor with small charred spots. Babadi's trademark "M" adorned his forehead. A cruel smirk graced his lips and he laughed, sending unwanted shivers up the spines of both Babadi and Dabura. There was a note of true madness in the laugh and suddenly Babadi did not look so sure about the decision that he had just made. He quickly recited another spell and Gohan collapsed again, Dabura hurrying forward with the chains Babadi created out of thin air._

Gohan backed as far away from his two captors as possible while the picture faded. "No," he whispered, horrified, "no. You didn't… you couldn't…" He swallowed thickly. "What the hell did you do to me?" he demanded. He tried to sound threatening, but the effect was ruined by his white face.

Babadi laughed, delighted with his prisoner's reaction. "It's simple, really. I simply took that part of your mind that was filled with all those beautiful negative emotions and… made my own warrior, I suppose you could say. I do wish that you could remember everything that you're going to do for me, but somehow it's even better when you don't know what you've done to make everyone hate you." He motioned to Dabura, who grabbed the chains that bound Gohan to the wall. Gohan fought against them uselessly as he was dragged along the corridor. Where was all his strength? The amount of ki he had left was dangerously low, barely enough to sustain life, but how could it have been drained so quickly? Was there some sort of spell on the chains?

"You see, I needed a third person to defend my ship," Babadi explained casually as he walked. "I could use Dabura, but I want him to stay with me. He is much more useful to me than you would be. No offense," he added mockingly. He stopped, stepping inside a room. "There are some pesky creatures that are coming to try and stop me from reviving Majin Buu. I don't think that they can get past the first floor, let alone the second, but if the Supreme Kai does make it past them, you'll be my surprise!" That said, Babadi left the room hastily as a threatening growl rumbled deep in Gohan's chest, despite the energy-draining chains keeping the teenager from attacking. Dabura tossed a familiar bag on the floor before exiting as well, slamming the door ominously behind him.

Gohan collapsed the instant he heard the lock click, all pretenses of acting tough gone in an instant. How the hell could he let this happen? He traced the M, feeling the slight ridge from the tattoo. With the amount of power that he could now control, Gohan was not sure that even his father would be able to hold his own against him. Maybe Goku and Vegeta working together could do it, but that all depended on whether or not Vegeta had dispensed with his enduring hatred of the other man and if the prince had attained Super Saiyan 2. The teenager was sure that the boost in power from dying had helped Goku reach that point easily. With Goku to spar with, surely Vegeta was not too far behind! The demi-Saiyan cursed aloud once more before falling silent, deciding that it would be better to not waste the energy that he had remaining. He might be able to use it to fight Babadi later. Noticing the bag sitting next to him, he opened it, giving a small smile at what he saw inside.

The red, blood-stained cloth that Bardock had worn around his head was neatly laid on top of the armor that both he and Raditz had given Gohan. The armor was sitting on top of some relatively worthless trinkets, ones that held meaning for him nonetheless. He gripped the strip of cloth tightly, a tear coursing its way down his face. 'I'm sorry for being so weak, Granddad,' he thought. 'I can't believe that I let myself get into this situation.' Gohan wrapped the cloth around his head like his grandfather had, knowing that it probably looked stupid and not really caring. He then pulled on the armor, laughing weakly at how it only just fit. If he had been an inch taller, it probably would not have fit at all. There really was not a reason to wear it, but it still smelled like his grandfather and that smell had always helped him to calm him a little bit after the nightmares he had been prone to have after he killed Frieza and his men. The sound of men's dying screams as the explosion took their lives still haunted him. The calmer he was, the more likely he would be able to figure out a way to get out of this. Throwing the discarded gi into the mostly empty bag, Gohan sat back against the wall, his head in his hands. How was he going to get out of this one?

He did wonder how Babadi had managed to control his newest prize. The hybrid had seen the madness in his alter's eyes, heard it in his voice. He was not just mad – he was totally, utterly insane. How could Babadi control a person who has no control in the first place?

And why was the alter insane anyway? Too much pain combined with whatever negative emotions had been used? Gohan knew that he had seen too much in his short life to be quite right in the head, but he had never really considered the effects on his psyche before. Would he not have had some sort of warning sign about losing control of himself? The Cell Games could be counted as such, he supposed, but becoming so egotistical seemed to be a natural reaction to attaining a new level. Vegeta was a perfect example of this. There were the occasional spars when Bardock or Raditz really pissed him off and the next thing he knew he had won in what appeared to be a brutal manner. But those had only happened after he had gained control of the second form and everyone involved dismissed them as slight relapses. The relapses quit occurring after a few months, so none of the three worried about them. "What am I doing?" the teenager exclaimed suddenly. "I'm psychoanalyzing myself when I should be worrying about how to not kill anyone!"

Gohan's eyes widened as he felt several large powers and a few relatively smaller ones moving quickly toward the ship. He recognized them almost all of them in an instant. The biggest one was his father, of course, with Vegeta only slightly less powerful. The energy he could feel emanating from both of them was somewhat reassuring – both had definitely reached the second level. Piccolo was there, along with the Supreme Kai and another otherworldly power. He could not feel any of the other fighters that used to be one big family. The teenager shuddered. Had they already died? Was he going to be forced to kill the rest of his family and friends?

Outside, the unknown otherworldly power suddenly disappeared. Piccolo's ki dropped to the bare minimum needed to keep a person alive. Goku, Vegeta, and the Supreme Kai started their descent into the bowels of the spaceship. The demi-Saiyan began to shake. 'Please don't let me have to kill my friends,' he prayed desperately. 'Please don't make me have to kill my father!'

_One of them is your father?_ Babadi's voice sounded like a child whose birthday had come six months early and Gohan's blood ran cold at the sound. _Oh, this is going to be so much fun!_ the Majin cried. _Father and son pitted against each other! What could be better?_

"NO!" the teenager cried aloud. "Please! Don't make me do it!"

Babadi's evil laughter was his only reply, and the demi-Saiyan finally broke down and began to weep.

***

Dabura watched the spectacle with a bored face that betrayed none of his true feelings. He regarded his newest ally with faint disgust. How this man could have such an evil place within his mind was something that the giant could scarcely believe. What kind of evil bawled like a baby?

A flash of memory swept past Dabura's eyes and he shivered slightly, remembering the crazed look upon the man's face when he stood up after submitting to Babadi's spell. "Master Babadi, are you sure that enslaving him is a good idea?" he queried blandly.

"Enslaving who, Dabura?" Babadi snapped, switching the crystal ball's view from the broken man on the third floor to the fight on the first. The Supreme Kai was currently fighting their weakest lackey, Pui-Pui, and from the looks of things was not doing a good job. He sported far more bruises and cuts than his opponent did. A bright flash of light obscured the globe for a moment and Babadi gasped. "Kill him, Pui-Pui!" he cried. "Kill the little rat!"

Dabura raised one delicate eyebrow. As far as the demon king was concerned, Babadi looked more like a rat than the Supreme Kai ever thought about being. Deciding not to mention this, Dabura replied to his master's question. "The Saiyan, master," he said. "He is not stable, especially not when he turns gold."

Babadi groaned as the light from the ball faded and Pui-Pui was nowhere to be seen. The view broadened to show the flame-haired man's hand outstretched, the Kai's shocked face, and the spiky-haired man laughing, a hand behind his head. "On to Round Two," the Majin muttered disappointedly. He waved a hand negligently and the door to the next floor opened. "The Saiyan is completely under my control," he added coolly. "There is no need to worry, Dabura."

"Master, I have seen this before," the demon king pressed. "All it will take is a small push and he will not be under anyone's control, least of all yours." He winced as a sharp pain lanced through his head. That was the wrong thing to say.

"Dabura, I have everything under control," Babadi replied dangerously. "You would be well-advised to remember that." The pain let up as the yellow mutant's attention was drawn back to the newest fight between Yakon and what looked like the man who had killed Pui-Pui. However, the man was surrounded by a familiar golden glow, the same one that had surrounded their captive Saiyan earlier.

"Of course, Master," Dabura submitted. He resented having to answer to this creature, but this creature also had incredible pieces of magic at his disposal. Dabura was under at least half a dozen different subjugation spells to keep him serving the Majin. It would not be a tragedy were Babadi to suddenly lose his life. Indeed, the demon king would probably shake the hand of the person who killed the wizard, before killing said person, of course. He would allow no one who had seen him in such humiliating circumstances to live. Until such a time, however, he would have to suffer under Babadi's spell and bide his time.

***

Goku frowned as Vegeta easily took care of the gluttonous Yakon he had been fighting. It was not because of the battle – as far as he was concerned, Goku had not been paying much attention to it. He knew the outcome before the fight even started. It really was pathetic how their enemies were so weak. Of course, he and Vegeta's only remaining ally was startlingly feeble compared to their own Super Saiyan powers. They had both expected the Supreme Kai to be much stronger than what he actually was. The reality did not match up to their expectations.

No, the source of the Saiyan's frown was what he could feel lurking just below them on the next floor. Though dormant, he could feel the malevolent power clearly. It was frighteningly strong, almost on par with his own strength. The strange thing was that it felt vaguely familiar, like the last vestiges of an otherwise forgotten dream. Was it some former enemy that had suddenly grown so much in power? Whoever it was, they were giving Goku a bad feeling about what was to come.

The opening in the floor slid open easily. The Supreme Kai, confidence clearly bolstered by his companions' strength, went down first. Vegeta and Goku remained behind. They glanced at each other. "Remember, Kakarotto, I'm the only one who's allowed to kill you," Vegeta ordered before jumping down into the hole in the floor, looking somewhat flustered. Goku grinned at his fellow fighter's backward way of telling him to be careful and followed him, only to nearly land on top of the shorter man as they both gaped at the sight in front of them.

Whatever the Saiyan had been expecting to find as the source of the evil power, it was not what he found. Instead of a monster, he was confronted with a man. A tall man in Saiyan armor with a tail wrapped around his waist, chains binding him to the wall, and face damp with what looked like tears. "Get away!" the man shouted. "Hurry up! Go down and stop him before –" His face contorted in agony and he collapsed, screaming, as the chains that bound his wrists suddenly opened and fell off. Goku started forward to try and help him, but Vegeta grabbed the back of his gi and dragged him back.

"Are you insane?" the prince hissed, keeping a wary eye on their unknown foe. "This is the enemy, Kakarotto, not one of your friends!" Goku glared at him, but whatever he was about to say died in his throat as the Saiyan in front of them became encased in golden flames. Both his and Vegeta's jaws dropped at the sight. There was only one other person who could transform into Super Saiyan, and that was…

"Gohan?" Goku whispered, doing something that he never thought he would do. He hoped that this was not his son. Not this source of evil. It could not be him. Gohan did not have the capacity to be intentionally malicious, especially since he had kept a tight rein on his Saiyan side the second he learned how to control it. His Gohan was not evil. He could never be. Whispers of a faint memory, of Gohan tormenting Cell, floated through Goku's mind and he flinched. 'That wasn't Gohan!' he cried mentally. 'He didn't mean to! The power went to his head; that was all!'

Beside him, Goku heard Vegeta cry, "Gohan? What the hell is this?" Their enemy smoothly rose up off the floor. His green eyes fixated upon the orange-clad warrior and Goku felt his heart sink into the bottom of his stomach. There was only one reason that this man would focus on him. A malevolent smile spread across the armored man's face.

"Hello, father."

The tension was so thick that it could be cut by a knife. Two of the four fighters stared at their newest enemy in shock and growing horror, while their ally was merely confused. The last fighter, wrapped in a golden aura, had eyes for only one of his opponents.

For his part, the Supreme Kai was bewildered. Who was this "Gohan" and why did he call Goku "father"? He seemed to be Goku's son, but as far Shin knew Goku only had one son. He had done extensive research on the Saiyan before approaching him at the World Martial Arts Tournament, wanting to know as much about him as possible. Goku had a veritable book of all the good he had done in his life and the Kai had perused it intently in order to ascertain that the Saiyan was the best man to defeat the evil menace hidden deep within Earth's surface. It only briefly talked about his family, mentioning only that he had a wife and one son. Where did this "Gohan" come from?

Gohan's smile morphed into a smirk as he cast his eyes over the other two occupants in the room. "Vegeta, I see that you've gotten stronger. Of course, I guess that getting your ass beat by a bug is good motivation, hmm?" Vegeta let an angry growl slip, but refrained from attacking the whelp. Maybe a few years ago he would have hit first and asked questions later, but he had changed. The power he could feel emanating from the young man in front of him made him wary of going on the offensive just yet.

The demi-Saiyan's gaze slid over to the Supreme Kai, who flinched from the power in it. "Shin, it's been a while, hasn't it?" he asked. "The same can't be said for you, I'm afraid. You're still as weak as you were seven years ago." The Kai did not bother to answer or show that he felt offended, too fearful of this curveball that Babadi had thrown at him.

The cold green eyes fixated upon Goku once again, but before Gohan could comment on his father's strength or insult any of them further, Babadi's enraged voice echoed through the room. "Saiyan, what are you doing?" he screeched. "Kill the Kai! Kill the little rat!"

"The name is Maze," Gohan said coldly. "Not Saiyan. And not Gohan either," he added, glaring at his father. "Gohan was a weak, cowardly child who wouldn't have been able to survive where we ended up."

Babadi's voice gave a huffy little sigh. "Fine, _Maze_," he relented, stressing the name sarcastically. "Kill the Kai and his little friends!" A small smirk crossed his supposedly controlled servant's lips.

"Let's not and say we did," the demi-Saiyan replied. "I have no interest in killing Shin, even if you do."

"I ORDER YOU TO KILL THE KAI!" Babadi screeched again. Down on the bottom floor, Dabura was hard-pressed to keep from laughing at his master's enraged yelling. He dearly wanted to tell the Majin "I told you so," but knew that would be a one-way ticket to the next dimension. The demon king wisely kept silent, a glint in his slit-pupil eyes the only indication of his amusement.

Babadi was angry beyond words. "Pa-pa-ra-pa-pa!" he shrieked furiously. He was fully intent on giving the monkey the lesson of his life. It came as a huge shock therefore when, far from putting this Maze through pain and agony, the man openly laughed.

"It's not going to work, Babadi," Maze said amusedly. "You can't control me no matter how much you try. I've been trying to get out since Gohan was five. Do you really think that I'm going to let someone as weak as you tell me what to do now that I've succeeded?"

"I made you!" the Majin yelled angrily. "I am your creator! You must obey me!"

"Don't think so," the teenager replied. He returned his attention to his father. "Catch me if you can," he whispered, and disappeared.

* * *

Read and review!

~tp


	2. Fighting

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Fighting**

The announcer of the World Martial Arts Tournament was in a panic. His beautiful tournament was falling to pieces! First Videl Satan had been beaten into a pulp by Spopovitch, then Majunior forfeited to Shin, and then Krillin was attacked by Spopovitch and his weird friend Yamu. And if that was not enough, half of the fighters flew off in hot pursuit after the two men! There were four fighters left of the original sixteen that had made it into the finals. The crowd was getting restless; what was he supposed to do?

His answer came in the form of the sudden appearance of a man in the middle of the arena. It was not one of the original fighters that had left, but what he was wearing left little doubt that he was a martial artist. He hurried up to the stranger. "Excuse me sir, are you here for the tournament?" the announcer queried desperately.

Cold green eyes glanced at him. "In a manner of speaking," the man replied. "I'm here to fight Goku."

The announcer's face fell slightly. "Well, you see," he began to explain, "Goku isn't exactly here right now. He left about an hour ago."

The man's mouth curved into a smirk. "Oh, he'll be here," he replied. "He has to figure out where I went, but once he gets here…" The smirk broadened as he was cut off by the arrival of three of the fighters who had flown away an hour prior.

"Gohan!" Goku cried desperately. The announcer looked confused, but before he could open his mouth to speak a growl from beside him cut him off.

"I told you, my name is Maze," the man growled. "Gohan is gone! Do you understand me? He's DEAD! Babadi made sure of that."

Goku's eyes hardened. "I don't believe that, Gohan," he replied steadily. "You're in still there! Wake u-" He was interrupted by Maze's fist slamming into his mouth, sending the orange-clad warrior flying back. Vegeta leapt at the teenager and was batted away as easily as a fly, heading for the stands at high speeds. The prince gained control of his momentum and landed on the seat next to his wife.

"Vegeta," Bulma screeched, "what's going on?" Vegeta turned to her.

"That's Gohan down there," the man replied. A gasp and a thud alerted him to the fact that Chi-Chi had fainted and if the situation had not been so dire (and if he had been any less of a Saiyan) he would have rolled his eyes at her theatrics. "Something's wrong with him; he's been possessed." And with that, Vegeta launched back into the air to stand next to Goku, who had stumblingly gotten to his feet, rubbing his jaw tenderly. "Are you all right, Kakarotto?" he asked emotionlessly, as though he were not the slightest bit worried about his rival and sometimes friend.

The taller Saiyan's eyes were thoughtful as he regarded his son. "Vegeta, you and Supreme Kai need to go back to the ship and try to stop Babadi from resurrecting Majin Buu," he ordered, ignoring Vegeta's question. "It's obvious that he wants to fight me." The Saiyan prince groaned but conceded. Gohan's attention had been fixated on Goku since the moment they arrived on the third floor of that blasted ship.

"Fine," Vegeta grunted, turning to the Supreme Kai. He was standing in the same spot he had been in when the three arrived back in the ring, completely in shock for some reason or another. "Well?" he demanded harshly. "Take us back to the ship, you imbecile! Or do you want that Majin Buu character to be released?" Shin blinked.

"B-but what about Goku?" the shorter man stammered.

"Kakarotto is dealing with some other problems at the moment," Vegeta said shortly. "I will have to suffice. Let's go!" The Kai nodded hesitantly, glancing back at the two fighters they were leaving behind. The last thing he saw before Babadi's ship swam into view was Goku turning into a Super Saiyan and the cruel smile on Gohan's lips.

***

Babadi watched the unfolding events in annoyance. Damn that Saiyan! If he saw that Maze again, he just might have to kill him. Because of him, his entire day had been thrown out of whack. Majin Buu should have been resurrected by now and the Supreme Kai should have been dead. But no, the little rat had to find allies that were stronger than Babadi's own men. And now his secret weapon that was no longer his secret weapon was gallivanting around the planet. At least one of the stupid spiky-haired guys was staying behind with Maze. Dabura could easily handle the other spiky-haired guy. Vegetable? Veggie? Well, whatever his name was, Dabura would have no problem defeating him. Probably. But in the meantime, how was Majin Buu going to get the energy he needed? Even with two fights, the hits Maze and Dabura scored would not be enough unless the fights dragged out thanks to their enemies' talent. Unless…

The Majin smirked happily. He would just alter the spell a bit and let the hits from all four fighters give Majin Buu energy. Not difficult for a wizard of his caliber, he thought, raising his hands at the crystal ball and giving his traditional spell words. If he saw that Maze again, Babadi just might have to kiss him for making the resurrection going so much easier than planned.

A sudden shockwave shook the ship just as the wizard finished the modifications and Babadi shrieked, diving behind Dabura. "What was that?" he asked shakily. The crystal ball flashed in response, a picture of Vegeta and the Supreme Kai appearing within its depths. Dabura stirred.

"Master Babadi, isn't that–" A second explosion cut the demon king off, this one much closer. The far wall exploded in a flash of light and smoke and Babadi cowered even further behind his minion.

"Knock, knock," someone called. "Anybody home?" The man with the blue spandex bodysuit strolled nonchalantly through the hole he had just made in the spaceship, a cocky smirk on his lips as he looked his competition over. The Supreme Kai cautiously walked in after him, looking around at the damage the Saiyan had caused. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Majin Buu's egg still intact.

"Dabura, take care of this pest," Babadi ordered. "He shouldn't be any match for you."

"Yes, Master Babadi," the demon king replied, bowing slightly. The Majin nodded nervously and scurried off to find another place to hide, his ever-present orb hovering along silently behind him. Dabura easily blocked the energy blast that his opponent had aimed at the little man and turned to regard the person who had fired it.

Vegeta was pleasantly surprised to find that his opponent batted the attack away as though it were nothing. The blast had been as strong as the one that had killed the alien on the first floor, not that Pui Pui had been very powerful in the first place. The ease with which this Dabura had blocked it, however, pointed to what looked like a good fight in the near future. He smiled, ignoring Shin's attempts to warn him of something or another. He did not need help from a man so much weaker than himself.

"Shall we dance?"

***

There were very few people left in the stadium now. The audience had expected to see a fight after the new fighter had clocked Son Goku in the chin, but once Shin and Vegeta had disappeared yet again, the former two people had quite suddenly disappeared. Being mere ordinary humans, they could only see the aftermath of ki blasts that had missed their marks and the occasional crater made by one of the two fighters knocked out of the air. This was all well and good, but what was the use of going to a martial arts tournament if one could not see the actual fighting? Disappointed and disgruntled, the vast majority of the populace had left, all griping about getting their money back.

The few that had remained were all vitally interested in the fight. Bulma, Yamcha, the Ox King, Roshi, Oolong, Krillin, Eighteen, a miraculously sleeping Marron, and a still unconscious Chi-Chi (Trunks and Goten were nowhere to be found) had migrated to the ground, true, but that was as far as they went. If what Vegeta had said was true, Gohan had returned from wherever he disappeared to seven years ago. What should have been a happy reunion was marred by the fact that Gohan was fighting his father as if he wanted to kill the man. From what the group could see of the fight (not much considering that both were fighting in at least Super Saiyan form, if not higher) Goku was not holding anything back either.

Father and son reappeared in the middle of the rubble of what used to be the ring. Goku looked much worse for the wear than Gohan did. The top of his gi had been burned away and his torso was covered in bruises upon bruises and burns upon burns. He was breathing heavily and slouching, keeping a wary eye on his opponent as he tried to regain his breath.

Gohan, on the other hand, looked like he had only been exercising hard. He had a few wounds on his arms and an ugly-looking bruise marred his cheek, but his face had not lost its evil smile and the malice had not faded from the green eyes. "What's the matter, Dad?" he asked mockingly. "Getting tired already?" He shook his head in mock-disappointment. "Really, Dad, I'd expected more from you. Getting soft in our old age, are we?"

Goku glared at him, a strange expression for so gentle a man. "Why are you doing this, Maze?" he demanded. He had finally put the thought that this was Gohan from his mind: Gohan had never fought like this. Gohan always hung back, never wanting to take the offensive and finish it. Maze exploited every opening he could, no matter what the risk to himself.

His son laughed openly and the Saiyan flinched at the cruel sound. "Why not?" the demi-Saiyan replied, shrugging. "You put me through hell; it's only fair that I get to do the same to you, right?"

"What are you talking about?" the older man replied confusedly. "You're my son! I would never do something like that to you!" Maze's smile vanished a split second before he did. Goku only knew where the man was after Maze knocked his feet out from underneath him and smashed his face into the remaining tile.

"You did!" the hybrid hissed, picking the Saiyan up by his neck. He threw Goku toward the stadium wall and the man only barely managed to avoid hitting it. Dredging up as much speed as he could, Goku phased behind his son – right into the man's fist. He fell hard on his back, clutching his stomach as he tried vainly to regain his breath. Maze stood over him, whatever amusement he had derived from fighting the other man gone. "You seem to think that I liked to fight from the time I learned how," he said, voice dangerously soft. "You thought that I _enjoyed_ it. Well, guess what, Dad? I _hated_ fighting. I hated hurting people. I didn't care who it was. Hell, I probably would have let Frieza do what he wanted."

Suddenly the teenager let out a breath, almost a sigh. "It was probably thanks to Mother," he said contemplatively, tapping his chin. He was quiet for a moment. Goku was not sure what scared him more – the obvious anger or the abrupt mood swings. He moved slightly and was pinned under his son's angry gaze once more. "Both of you, really. All the arguing about what I was going to do with my life, the training with Piccolo, the schoolwork at home… I hated all of it. But schoolwork was better than fighting. No one could compare me to you there." Young eyes bored into older ones. It was not the young ones that looked away.

"I could hear them whispering about it. Everyone wondered. Even Piccolo did at first. I was a crybaby, a nuisance, someone who was always underfoot and always getting into trouble that I couldn't get out of alone. Would I ever measure up to my father? Would I ever be as great a fighter as the legendary Son Goku was? It didn't matter that I could beat each and every one of them in a spar. I still wasn't as good as you and it was obvious that I never would be. I was written off as a failure."

Goku could only listen to Maze's words with increasing horror. This was how his son had felt? How had he not noticed this before?

"Of course, you never noticed," Maze continued. "How could you? You were never there. First you died, then you stayed away for nearly a year instead of coming home when we asked the Dragon to bring you home. You were too focused on training to notice me before the androids."

"What are you talking about?" Goku interjected. "I was training you! How could I not notice you?"

Maze laughed mirthlessly. "Sure you trained me," he said, "but you never noticed _me_. I had to please both you and Mother. During the day I trained with you, at night I did my schoolwork for Mother. I couldn't let anyone know how I felt about it. So I bottled it up.

"I keep saying 'I'," the teenager said suddenly, "but it was really your precious Gohan that heard and saw all this, you know. Gohan was the one who thought all of this. He just shoved it all to the back of his mind, horrified that he would ever think such things about the people who raised him. He can't really remember much of the bad stuff that he went through either – it was mixed in with the emotions that he so conveniently forgot about. Add Babadi into the mix and I was born. Gohan has no clue what's going on right now. It'll just be one big blank spot in his memory. But he'll be fine – he's used to it. After all, what's one more hole in his head?"

***

Vegeta was having the time of his life. It had been a long time since he had fought a totally new opponent that could actually give him a good fight. This Dabura was a tricky character and the Saiyan prince had barely missed being hit by the demon king's spit more than once. But he was Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans (capital letters and all), and he had been weaned on such tricks while growing up under Frieza. He had had to learn very quickly how to avoid the tyrant's henchmen. Nappa had not always been around to protect him, after all.

A slight heaviness on his hand alerted Vegeta to the fact that his glove had suddenly turned to stone. He hurriedly ripped it off and glared at the offender, mentally kicking himself for letting his attention wander. "Those were my favorite gloves, you bastard!" he seethed angrily, yanking off the other glove as well.

Dabura merely smirked. "Perhaps you should have been paying closer attention," he said condescendingly.

Vegeta saw red. If there was one thing he hated, it was people being condescending to him. He was the Prince of All Saiyans and people did _not_ talk to him that way without getting seriously hurt in the ten seconds after their mistake. He had worked on not reacting to jabs at his pride, but it was slow going, and what little self-control he had painstakingly achieved had already been stretched to its limit with the appearance of the obviously super-powerful eldest brat of Kakarotto. He launched at Dabura, who had not expected such a foolhardy move and therefore was too surprised to block the first attack and the ones that came after it.

It did not take long for Vegeta to do away with the demon king after that. Anger always made him stronger, though it took a toll on his reason. Soon enough he was standing over the lifeless body, still glaring. He could faintly feel the Namekian's ki shoot back up to a normal level, but he did not really care. The only person he even slightly considered an ally was Kakarotto and that only because the man was a Saiyan. That was what he kept saying to himself, anyway, but it was a litany that he chanted half-heartedly at best.

The ground suddenly shook and Vegeta, caught by surprise, lost his balance and fell on his back end. He struggled to his feet with difficulty and swore as the huge orb in the middle of the room (how the hell had he missed seeing that thing, anyway?) began to emit plumes of steam. This must be the thing that Majin Buu had been sealed in so long ago.

The Supreme Kai, who the Saiyan had forgotten about when the fight began, gasped in horror. "No!" he cried. "This can't be! Majin Buu is hatching! How could so much energy be collected?"

A giggle sounded from behind the egg and Babadi peeked out. "I'm a genius!" he crowed. "Getting power from all four fighters all at once put us ahead of schedule! Majin Buu will rise again!" Vegeta growled and sent a ki blast in the Majin's direction. Babadi squeaked and hid behind his makeshift shield. The prince made to go after him, but before he had taken a step, Shin grabbed his arm and they were suddenly back on land. Vegeta whirled around, bearing down on the smaller man in his fury.

"Why the hell did you do that?" the Saiyan demanded angrily. "I could have stopped him from coming back!"

Shin quivered, but stood his ground. "You couldn't have. Majin Buu is too strong." He shook his head sadly. "We are doomed." One black eyebrow quirked incredulously, but before Vegeta could say anything more, there was a tremendous roar and the ground beneath their feet disappeared as the spaceship buried in the earth imploded.

***

Being a stone statue sucked, Piccolo decided. Although physically all he could do was provide a perch for the odd bird, his mental facilities, or perhaps more accurately his spirit, went unhindered. This included his ki-sensing ability. Despite being stuck in one place, he was relatively sure about what was going on. From the feel of it the Supreme Kai, Vegeta, and Goku had split up – the former two were in the spaceship, and with Vegeta's ki as elevated as it was, the Namekian was willing to bet that he was fighting Dabura. The two fighters seemed to be on par as far as power levels were concerned, but Vegeta still had not shown the full extent of his own power.

Goku was far away now, his ki close to Yamcha's and Krillin's. Accompanying him was a power that was achingly familiar to Piccolo even as it scared him. There was something wrong with Gohan, that much was obvious. His ki felt wrong. Evil. He had been too late to save the boy he thought of as his son.

Suddenly, pain shot through Piccolo's body, all the more painful after not being able to feel anything for the past hour or so. Through the blinding sensation, he could barely feel that Vegeta's ki, while spiking erratically, no longer indicated that he was fighting. The lack of Dabura's ki meant that the Demon King was dead, which in turn meant that… The pain reached an all-time high and then faded quickly. Cautiously, the Namekian tried to make a fist, rejoicing silently when he was able to do so. Dabura was definitely dead.

Although he dearly wanted to rush off in Gohan's direction, Piccolo knew better than that and reluctantly stayed put to assess the situation. By the feel of it, he was needed much more here with Vegeta than with Goku and the others. Majin Buu had been released, his power greater by far than anything the Namekian had ever felt before. Piccolo lifted off the ground and cautiously made his way in the direction of the ship. He could just make out the forms of Vegeta and the Supreme Kai standing on the patch of earth covering the ship. Suddenly, the structure below the pair collapsed and the two just barely escaped falling into the resulting pit. Piccolo flew at breakneck speed to get to them. The instant he was in the Saiyan's hearing range, he demanded, "Vegeta, what's going on?"

Vegeta barely spared his newest companion a glance. "Gohan is possessed," he replied shortly. "Majin Buu is released."

The Namekian barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he landed. "Thank you, Vegeta, I hadn't realized that," he snapped back. Then his mind backtracked and he repeated, "Gohan is possessed?"

"He was." The Supreme Kai answered this time, his fearful gaze still locked on the slightly smoking crater. Piccolo turned his attention to the higher being. "In the same way as Dabura had been before his death."

"And you can't do anything about it?" the Namekian demanded helplessly.

Shin shook his head. "Nothing. Babadi lost control of him and he is acting of his own volition now. I believe that Gohan is somehow being controlled by his darker emotions and cannot escape them. He also calls himself 'Maze' at the moment, and is quite averse to being called 'Gohan'."

Piccolo did not understand any of this. How could Babadi lose control of something he created, something he possessed? Was Gohan's strength of will too great? Or Maze's? How did Babadi even gain control of Gohan in the first place? So many questions and no answers for any of them, the man thought worriedly. This did not bode well.

* * *

Read and review!

~tp


	3. The Creature, The Saiyan, and The New Pr

I now have a section on my profile entitled "updates on the life of a texaspeach". Please read this section; it contains important information regarding both this and other stories, and from now on any author's notes will be found there and not in the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Creature, the Saiyan, and the New Problem**

"_After all, what's one more hole in his head?"_

The words echoed around in Goku's head as his son suddenly stepped forward to grip the front of his gi. The hybrid glared down at him as he lifted his father easily with one hand, cocking back his fist, ready to begin pummeling him again, or so the Saiyan thought. A light shimmered into being inside Maze's fist and Goku, horrified, realized that the energy contained within that small ki ball was enough to blow his head clean off. Maze was not toying with him anymore. He was moving in for the kill.

Goku shut his eyes resignedly, knowing that he could not get away even if he wanted to. He was not even sure that he did. He had treated his son poorly from the time that he could be taught how to fight. Always pushing fighting on him, making him practice, forcing him to defend himself when it was obvious that the boy did not want to fight. Hindsight truly was twenty-twenty. And now everything that had been passed down from father to son was being used against him. He felt Maze's body tense, felt the energy in his son's hand swell to enormous proportions, felt his arm come swinging in to give the blow that would end his life (again), and involuntarily tensed in anticipation of the pain, however briefly he might feel it.

It did not come.

Goku opened his eyes tentatively only to snap them back shut again as he was nearly blinded. Maze's fist was a mere inch from his face, the light from the energy concealed within shining through his closed fingers. The Saiyan was confused. Why had Maze stopped? Was Gohan back in control of his own body? A glimmer of hope appeared. "G-Gohan?" Goku whispered shakily.

Suddenly the energy disappeared and the Saiyan was roughly thrown to the ground. "Hardly," Maze scoffed, dropping his Super Saiyan transformation. "Something more important just came up. I'll kill you when I get back." And with that, the demi-Saiyan disappeared, leaving Goku sprawled out in the middle of the half-demolished tournament ring, unmoving as he wondered what could possibly be more important than killing him.

***

High above the earth, Korin watched the events down below. He would be lying if he said that this sudden, strange turn of events did not worry him. They did, very much so. Gohan's return was unexpected and the manner in which he returned even more so. The elderly cat had seen Gohan's sudden appearance and his capture. He knew that he should have told Goku or Piccolo, but they were all at the tournament and there was no time. By his actions, Piccolo had already known of Gohan's return, but had been distracted by the events at the tournament, trying to figure out who Shin was. Korin had known, of course, but he liked to see the normally stoic Namekian squirm. Sighing, he turned away from his view of the earth – only to come face-to-waist with Gohan.

Startled, Korin hastily stepped a few paces away to look up at him. No, not Gohan, he realized. This was Maze. The eyes were too cruel to be anyone else's. But still… something lurked in the back of them. He was not sure what it was, but he had a suspicion that Babadi had not been quite as thorough in the creation of his warrior as he thought he had been. Korin opted not to say any of this, instead merely inclining his head slightly in greeting. He knew better than to piss this guy off. "Maze."

"Korin," the man greeted back. "I'm here for a Senzu bean."

"Of course you are," the cat replied. "No one ever comes up here just to chat anymore." He turned his back on the demi-Saiyan to rummage through one of his many cabinets, knowing that the man would not attack. The mind-reading gift was the best thing that had ever happened to him, for he now knew what was so important that Maze had broken off the fight with Goku and he… well, not _trusted_, but he knew that Majin Buu, for whatever reason, was higher on Maze's "People I Want to Kill" list than Goku was. Finally finding one hidden under a stack of somewhat questionable magazines – he _really_ had to tell Roshi to stop sending those stupid things to Yajirobe – he turned back to the intruder. "You do realize that it's nearly as strong as you are," he pointed out blandly, depositing the bean into Maze's outstretched hand.

Mage popped the bean into his mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly. "I know," he said. "But I'm still stronger." He turned to go.

"Be careful, Gohan," Korin said suddenly. "Don't let your arrogance get the best of you or you may have a situation like Cell all over again." Maze stiffened, but left without further comment. Korin watched him go, face quite blank before, inexplicably, he smiled.

***

Piccolo growled as he was batted into the ground for the umpteenth time. Where the hell was Goku? Majin Buu was making short work of Vegeta, the Supreme Kai, and himself. They were no match for his power at all, even with Vegeta at the second level of Super Saiyan. Somehow, that did not surprise the Namekian – enemies of the Earth's Special Forces had gotten progressively stronger with each one that appeared, forcing some of the fighters to drop out simply because they could not keep up. It was almost like a predictable, badly written movie. The thought made him smirk despite the pain. Vegeta, who had made his own crater close by, glared at him. "What's so funny?" the Saiyan demanded as the Supreme Kai crashed into a boulder behind him. Vegeta did not even blink. The Namekian rolled his eyes at him and did not bother to answer.

"You guys have gotten really soft in your old age," someone commented from behind them. The trio spun around. A man was sitting on a conveniently placed rock, looking like he did not have a care in the world, a somewhat familiar looking man with a very familiar power signature. While Vegeta scoffed and the Supreme Kai gaped, Piccolo had gone into a state of shock. This man was Gohan? That was impossible! Gohan was a skinny little runt of a human child the last time anyone had seen him. Could seven years really have made that much of a difference?

Apparently, it could. Gone were the dark, laughing eyes, the shy, eager to please expression on his face. Now his eyes were cold, his face blank. He had gone through something that had changed him for the worst, especially if he had enough negative emotions for Babadi to manipulate.

While Piccolo struggled with his emotions, Vegeta snorted derisively. "And I suppose that you could do better?" he challenged.

Gohan frowned, then suddenly disappeared, reappearing with his fist in Vegeta's stomach. Vegeta gasped in shock and pain as the air was forcefully driven from his body. "Does that answer your question?" the demi-Saiyan asked snidely. The prince glared weakly up at him, but within a few seconds, he had collapsed, unconscious. Gohan looked down on him, a sneer on his face. "Pathetic," he muttered disgustedly. "You'd think that with Dad here he'd be stronger than that."

Piccolo shook himself out of his shock. "Gohan, what the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded. Gohan's eyes snapped to him and the Namekian blanched.

"I was merely showing Vegeta that I could do better," the hybrid replied slowly, looking all for the world like all he had done was tap Vegeta on the shoulder. "What did it look like I was doing?"

"Like you were attacking one of your allies," Piccolo snapped back.

Gohan's face hardened. "I'm not Gohan, Piccolo," he said coldly. "I'm Maze. I'm not nearly as nice as he is. I certainly don't have any allies, even you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than get into a battle of wits with you." And with that, he was gone, leaving Piccolo to gape soundlessly at the place his former student had occupied.

***

Maze appeared in front of the pink blob that was Majin Buu, feeling unimpressed. _This_ was what the Supreme Kai was so afraid of? Seriously? Man, if this was the best that evil could come up with, then they were in some serious need of lessons on how to make their agents big and scary. Majin Buu looked like a cream puff dressed in a vest.

Despite his flippant thoughts, however, the demi-Saiyan knew better than to dismiss the monster out of hand. That was what he had done with Cell seven years ago and he did not intend to let that happen again, no matter his quarrel with his father. After all, it would be somewhat hard to kill his father if the man was already dead, would it not? He set his eyes on Majin Buu, who looked at him with a deceptively childlike grin. "You want play?" it asked excitedly.

"Oh yeah," Maze replied. "I want to play." He shifted into a power-up stance and let out a roar. His hair turned blond and his eyes turned green as he quickly pushed through the first and second levels of Super Saiyan as if they were nothing. Of course, after so much extensive training, they _were_ nothing.

Below the two powerful fighters, two lesser ones (Vegeta was still unconscious) were gawking at them from the ground. The amount of power from Majin Buu had been bad enough, but to feel the power coming off Maze at the moment was staggering. Had he been in his right mind, he would have been a formidable ally. As it was, they were afraid that they would eventually have to choose between the lesser of two evils. Maze's energy took another gigantic leap into unknown depths and the two resorted to staring up at him rather than contemplate that idea just yet.

A few hundred feet away from Shin, Vegeta, and Piccolo, Babadi also stared up at the sky. However, all his focus was on the disappointment that was Majin Buu. 'This was Father's ultimate warrior?' he thought. 'He's a gigantic pink balloon!'

Back in the air, Maze's transformation was almost complete. With a final, almost primal scream, his hair shot down to his knees and his facial features changed, the brow bone protruding sharply as his eyebrows disappeared and his eyes darkened to teal. As his ascension ended, the hybrid had to ignore his rowdy emotions, all clamoring to have front seat in his head. He pushed them to the back of his mind with difficulty; it seemed that "Maze" had a harder time fighting against the negative attitude of a Super Saiyan than his peace-loving host Gohan did. This was a worrisome development – Maze might have to drop back and let Gohan take control of his own body again. The alter did not know if he could break out again after breaking free of Babadi's control earlier. This was bothersome indeed, but the Saiyan refused to let any of his mental turmoil show on his face.

The two fighters stared at each other in a manner reminiscent of a Wild West showdown, complete with dust blowing past them. The tension could be cut with a knife, even with Majin Buu humming happily and bouncing in place. If anything this heightened the strain, contrasted as it was with Maze's stern features. Suddenly Maze leapt forward, taking the offensive. He was obviously fed up with Majin Buu's antics and put an end to them quickly, targeting the creature's face to shut it up and then kicking it away from him.

Buu did not seem to be much inconvenienced by this attack; indeed, it meandered back to its former spot, the indentations on its body from Maze's assault popping back into place with no effort. It grinned at the disgruntled man in front of it and said, "That fun! Again! Again!"

Maze growled, the anger breaking free of its constraints for a brief few seconds before he managed to shove it back again. The voice was worse than Babadi's, and that was saying something. However, he had been taught to honor a person's request if it was possible, so who was he to throw away those teachings? He obliged Buu's request and attacked again. The ending to this offensive did not turn out quite the way he had envisioned it, however; instead of the creature going flying, Maze was the one trying to imitate a bird. As he flew through the air, the demi-Saiyan forced his energy to the surface, abruptly coming to a halt in midair. He only had a split-second to see Buu's maniacal smile before he had an up-close-and-personal meeting with a mountain face right above the non-participants of the battlefield. Those non-participants were blinded not a minute later when Maze let out a roar and blew the mountain to pieces using nothing more than his aura. He shot out of the hole he had made and began attacking his opponent again. His attacks were sloppy and his defenses even more so as the emotions he had tried so hard to trap escaped his hold. Buu easily grabbed him in a stranglehold.

The bloody haze of anger was washed away in the struggle to stay conscious, leaving Maze to attempt to break free. Unfortunately for him, Buu's grip was too strong. The hybrid's arms fell to his sides and he reverted back to his natural form as he lost the battle with consciousness. Buu, noticing that its prey had stopped struggling, tilted its head in puzzlement and grabbed Maze by his neck, holding him aloft. "Boring," the Majin proclaimed, and tossed the demi-Saiyan's body down to the ground.

Piccolo rushed over to his student's unmoving body. "SHIN!" he roared, picking up Maze's limp frame, "GET US TO THE LOOKOUT!"

"W-What?" Shin stammered, staring at him. "Oh! Yes, of course!" The Supreme Kai quickly and unceremoniously grabbed Vegeta by a leg and struggled to drag him to Piccolo's side. Piccolo rolled his eyes impatiently and strode over, placing a hand on Shin's shoulder. The Kai stopped trying to move Vegeta's dead weight and focused for a quick second before all four people disappeared.

Buu floated alone in the middle of an empty wasteland. Its head tilted in confusion once again. "Where they go?"

***

Dende was ready and waiting for the newest guests to arrive at the Lookout. The other Z Fighters had already joined him so Goku could be healed. The aforementioned Saiyan was currently pacing at the edge of the Lookout where he could watch Maze's fight with Majin Buu. It was he who alerted Dende to Piccolo's words. His eyes were grim and his mouth tight as he watched the young Namekian heal Gohan. 'Maze,' his mind corrected. The rest of the group stood well away from the three in the middle, worried that Maze would be the one to regain consciousness and attack them all.

The hybrid slowly opened his eyes and then suddenly shot up, falling into a defensive stance. His eyes widened as he took in his audience before he dropped his stance. One hand shot to the back of his neck and rubbed it embarrassedly. "Um… hi?"

"GOHAN!" The cry came from the woman being shielded by her father. The Ox King was flung out of the way and almost off the Lookout as Chi-Chi darted to her son and wrapped him in a hug, sobbing all the while. Gohan stood stiffly for a moment before gingerly returning the hug. His eyes softened as he regarded the women clinging onto him for dear life and he relaxed more fully, tightening his arms around her. "I missed you, Mom," he said.

The others in the group crowded around him, offering their congratulations on finally making it home, slapping him on the back and shaking his hand and giving him hugs and exclaiming over how much he had grown in the past seven years. Vegeta, who Dende had healed unnoticed, did not come up to him and instead gave him what Gohan recognized as a sort of Saiyan salute, with the thumb and first two fingers extended. The demi-Saiyan returned the gesture solemnly. Piccolo stood nearby and smiled down at his almost-son proudly. Shin stood next to Piccolo, fidgeting uneasily as he watched the reunion, no doubt worried about the menace that was Majin Buu prowling the earth.

Goku watched this all from afar. He did not feel worthy enough to welcome his son home, not after hearing Maze talk about Gohan's childhood like that. How could he have been so stupid as to not see how much pain he was causing his son? He knew that he was not the smartest person in the world (that was Bulma), but he prided himself on understanding people's emotions well enough to avoid a serious disaster. How had he missed the pain that Gohan was in?

A part of the Saiyan's mind pointed to what Maze had said earlier, something about sticking all the bad memories and thoughts he had in the back of his mind and basically forgetting about them. Was that why Goku had made such a grave error of judgment? How many of Gohan's emotions were even "real"?

"Dad?" It was Gohan, who had somehow managed to escaped Chi-Chi's desperate clutches. Goku had not even heard the approaching footsteps. He stared up the few inches into Gohan's eyes, so similar to Chi-Chi's, and could not stand it anymore. He grabbed Gohan and held him tightly, pulling the teenager's head down to his shoulder and fisting his hand into the black hair.

"I'm sorry, Gohan," the man whispered into his son's hair. "I'm so sorry. This was all my fault. I'm so sorry." He muttered this over and over again, wishing that apologizing enough would make everything better and knowing that it would not. Gohan tolerated this for a few minutes while everyone else discreetly turned away, giving father and son time alone to work things out.

"I know you're sorry, Dad," Gohan said, breaking away when he began to feel claustrophobic. "I forgave you a long time ago. There was no use in staying angry at you. You didn't know it would happen." Goku remained silent. He had a feeling that Gohan had not forgiven him, merely voluntarily forgetting his father's actions instead.

Gohan took his father's silence as an acceptance and became serious. It was an interesting, if sad, transformation from the teenager he was to the warrior he had to be. "What's going on? I feel a huge ki, but I don't know what it is."

"It's Majin Buu," the Supreme Kai answered. "He has been released."

The hybrid frowned. "Then why don't I remember it?" He stiffened as he remembered Babadi's words about creating his own warrior from Gohan's own emotions. He turned to his father frantically. "What did I do?"

Goku frowned as well. "You didn't do anything, Gohan. It was Babadi and his mind control that did anything."

"But it was still MY emotions!" Gohan said hysterically. "What did I do?"

"All you did was beat Goku up a little bit, Gohan," Piccolo answered. "It's fine."

"No one died? Nothing bad happened?"

"Nothing happened, son," Goku replied firmly. 'Not like what he's worried about, anyway,' he thought.

"Gohan, you are the only one with enough power to defeat Majin Buu," Shin said softly. "No one else can compare to it except for you. You must kill it or else risk the earth's destruction yet again."

"Absolutely not," someone snapped. Those who expected Chi-Chi to be the one with the objections turned to her husband in surprise. "I – _We_ just got him back. I'm not going to send him out there just to possibly die again! I promised that I wouldn't do it ever again." Everyone looked startled by the normally easy-going Saiyan's outburst, the Supreme Kai most of all.

Gohan studied his father, _really_ noticing how much he had changed for the first time. Lines framed the man's eyes and mouth, both laughing lines and worry ones. He did not have as much of a presence as Gohan remembered from seven years before, though that could be simply because Gohan had surpassed him both in strength and height.

Most of all, however, Goku seemed tired, and the reason hit Gohan like cold water to the face. His disappearance had caused this. For all his father had known, Gohan was dead and gone. He doubted greatly that Shenron could have found him where he landed. Goku had struggled with his decision to let his son fight for seven years and was still struggling with it.

Gohan put a hand on his father's shoulder, the appendage shaking slightly from the sheer magnitude of emotions running through his mind. He shoved the swirling mass to the back of his head as Goku whirled around, his eyes bright with tears that he would never let fall. "Trust me, Dad, this'll be a piece of cake. Buu is nothing compared to me." There was no arrogance in his tone; this was simply a statement of fact, if a slightly overconfident one. He had felt the monster's power and though it was by far the strongest enemy he had encountered, it was still weaker than he was.

Goku looked at him for a moment. Then he nodded sharply. "All right. Just make sure that this is your decision."

"It is, don't worry," Gohan replied. "If I'm not back in twenty minutes, you might have to come get me though. I'll probably be exhausted. The third form of Super Saiyan takes a lot out of me." That said and ignoring the various gasps and incredulous looks around him, he concentrated on the monster's location and disappeared from the Lookout, reappearing far below and away from them right in front of Majin Buu.

'Good luck, Gohan,' Goku thought, watching his son power up yet again. 'I hope you're as strong as you think you are.'

***

It was blissfully easy to stay focused in the third form. The problem with this particular transformation was that emotions were enhanced greatly. Sooner or later they overwhelmed him, which was part of the reason he could only train in the form for a short while. He lacked an explanation for this newest phenomenon, but Gohan supposed that because Babadi had shackled all the negative emotions in one place, they were unable to break free and cloud his mind. Whatever the case, Gohan was thankful for it; not fighting against the anger that constantly threatened in the third level let him sharpen his attacks against Buu and deal out more damage than was otherwise possible.

The creature was getting angry now. "You no fun!" it shrieked. Steam came out of the odd holes in his head and covered a good-sized amount of the air around him. Suddenly it shot out of the cloud, shouting, "Pow! Pow! Pow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Gohan dodged out of the way and reappeared above Buu, hands linked and arms raised above his head.

"'Pow pow pow ow ow ow' is right," the demi-Saiyan commented lightly, observing the new crater in the ground below. He raised his right hand slightly and blue-white energy began to form around it. He let it grow to about the size of a basketball before lifting the hand above his head. Buu looked to have been knocked unconscious; it certainly was not moving. Gohan almost felt bad, attacking his opponent while it was down, but he reasoned that it would do the same to him so he might as well make sure it did not get the chance to do so. Putting even more power into the ball of energy, he stretched his arm a little bit further upward. "Goodbye, Majin Buu," he said.

"FINAL SPIRIT CANNON!"

***

Everyone on the Lookout was leaning over the edge to watch Gohan's fight against Majin Buu. This had led to several mass falling-offs in which the non-flying members of the group had to be rescued by the flying members. Even Trunks and Goten had showed up at some point, wherein there had been a brief respite from watching the altercation to watch Bulma and Chi-Chi scold their respective sons on running off without letting anyone know where they were going. Of course, the scolding ran on for long that everyone almost missed the end of the fight. It was only Gohan's sudden upsurge of energy (where the hell did he get all that power anyway?) that alerted them to the fact that something big was about to happen.

The attack was impressive, just as much as Master Roshi's Kamehameha Wave or Vegeta's Final Flash. In one bright, brilliant, blinding flash of light, the threat that was Majin Buu was destroyed. Gohan floated in the same spot for a few seconds before he relapsed into his original form and began to fall, eerily reminiscent of the conclusion to his fight with Cell seven years ago. However, unlike seven years before, Goku was there to catch him and lay him gently on the ground. The Saiyan had to take care of some loose ends.

Goku found Babadi, who was still in shock that his father's beautiful creation had been destroyed by a monkey, cowering behind a rock. The normally peace-loving man had no qualms about what he was about to do, which was a first. This wizard had enslaved Gohan's mind and forced him to fight against his friends and family, not to mention threatening the earth with destruction. Babadi was pathetically easy to kill for a being that had been such a big threat to the earth not two minutes earlier.

A bloodcurdling scream ripped through the air. Goku whipped around to see Gohan writhing on the ground, clearly in pain as he grasped his head. The man rushed to his son. "Gohan! What's wrong?" Gohan only moaned in response, his hands scrabbling at the tender skin of his scalp. Seeing the blood beginning to escape the scratches, Goku grabbed Gohan's hands. Gohan continued to thrash about on the ground and his father began to panic. What was he supposed to do?

The Supreme Kai appeared next to the two men and kneeled next to Gohan. He placed delicate hands on the hybrid's temples and shut his eyes. Barely a second later he opened his eyes and snatched his hands away. Goku looked at him. The question in the dark eyes was obvious: _What is wrong with my son_?

"Goku…" Shin trailed off, not sure how to word this. "Gohan is… well, he is free from Babadi's control. The wizard's death undid any spells he was currently sustaining."

Goku's stomach felt like it was filled with lead. Something was wrong. "And?" he prompted when his companion did not continue.

The Kai shook his head slightly. "I apologize. I was trying to decide how to explain this to you." He paused once more. "When Babadi's spell was broken, it released all of the negative emotions and memories that he had used to create Maze. From the look I have taken inside Gohan's mind, it seems that those… negativities are trying to return to their proper places. Not to the place that Gohan had put them in before," he added. "Where they were stored before was not the proper place for them. Maze was right about Gohan placing any emotions he perceived as 'bad' in a distant corner of his mind to forget about them."

"But what's happening to him?" Goku demanded. He was not interested in the whys and hows of Gohan's condition. He just wanted to know what the condition was.

Shin sighed. "Basically, his mind has been overloaded. He must process all of these memories before he can function normally again. In the best case scenario, he will be perfectly fine."

The Saiyan felt a thrill of horror shoot up his spine. "And in the worst case?" he asked, dreading the answer. The Supreme Kai's face was grim.

"In the worst case, with the sheer amount of memories he is being bombarded with, I am afraid that Gohan could very well be driven insane."

* * *

Read and review!

~tp


	4. Recovering the Memories

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Recovering the Memories**

_I'm scared. What's going on? Where's my mommy? Where's my daddy? Where am I? The bad man took me away and I don't know where I am! He put me in a ball and locked me in here. There's lots of buttons but Mommy told me to never touch something if I don't know what it is. I'll be good for Mommy. Where is Mommy?_

_It's Daddy! He'll beat the bad man and get me out of this ball! Who is that with him? I don't know, but maybe he's Daddy's friend. Daddy and him will beat the bad man. My daddy is the best and strongest in the world!_

_Watch out! Daddy, why aren't you getting up? Daddy, he's getting closer! You have to get up or something bad's going to happen! Daddy's yelling really loud. He's hurt! The bad man is hurting Daddy!_

_How did I get out of the ball? Why does my body feel so weird? It's tingly, like when my arm falls asleep and is trying to wake up. Wait, the bad man is hurting Daddy again!_

"_LEAVE MY DADDY ALONE!"_

* * *

_Why is this happening to me? I'm not strong enough to handle all of this. I choose to forget about these things for a reason. I'm not strong enough. My emotions might be human in origin, but the sheer strength of them is Saiyan. I can't control them, so I forget them. The bad ones, at least. I know that it's not healthy, but better to forget and leave whatever planet I happen to be on intact than let it go and destroy it and anyone on it._

_I can't have anyone else's death on my hands._

* * *

_Daddy, where are you? Mr. Piccolo's not moving, Daddy! He's not talking! What am I supposed to do? I can't fight Nappa! He's too strong! Daddy, what do I do? He killed Mr. Piccolo! HE KILLED MR. PICCOLO, DADDY, AND YOU WEREN'T THERE!_

_These emotions are too strong. I can't keep a hold on them. Piccolo was my best friend. My __**only**__friend. My dad when Dad wasn't there the year I trained in the wilderness. No wonder I forced myself to forget this. It was too much. Everyone else would have sacrificed themselves for me because I was Goku's son, but not Piccolo. He did it because he loved me._

_This is hell._

* * *

_Where is Daddy? I can't move. Recoome did something to me and now nothing works. I can't feel anything. I can't even move my head. I know it's not because I'm scared. I mean, yes I'm scared, but I figured out that they're going to hurt me whether I fight back or not, so I might as well fight back._

_Daddy, you're supposed to be here! You promised that you would be here! Where are you? You're letting everyone get hurt!_

_Oh, good. Here he is. And he brought Senzu beans. Those will help me and Krillin._

_I wish I wasn't angry at Daddy. It wasn't his fault he was late._

_Probably._

* * *

_My neck was completely broken? How the hell did I survive that? I guess these Saiyan genes are good for something. From the feel of it, that was the first time I was actually angry with Dad. I wonder why I forgot it. Maybe it was the shame that I felt at being mad at him when I realized that it was unjustified. Or maybe I was mad at myself for being so weak that Recoome was able to toss me around like a rag doll, so I wasn't living up to my dad's reputation. I can't tell._

* * *

_Daddy's home. He's been home for a few days. Why am I not more excited? I should be happy. I haven't seen him in a whole year. 365 days. 8,760 hours. 525,600 minutes. It's been a very long time. We defeated Garlic Junior while he was away. We needed him, but he wasn't there._

_Am I angry at him?_

_Yes._

_He chose not to come back to us. He __**knew**__ that we had no clue that he was alive until Shenron told us he was and he __**had**__ to know that we wanted to see him. And he still didn't want to come back. Why? Mom cried for days after she heard that he wasn't coming back yet. I hope he didn't want to stay away just because he wanted to get stronger._

_I don't know what I would do if I found out that was the reason he didn't return right away._

* * *

_It doesn't hurt as much anymore. Seeing these memories, I mean. Not that it isn't still painful, but I think I've seen so many that I fallen into… what was it? Blunted affect. The scientific term describing a lack of emotional reactivity from an individual. Yeah, that's it. Why do I remember that? I don't know. I guess this means that the earth won't get blown up. That's good._

_I think that this was the start of shoving back any bad feelings toward my father. No one had anything bad to say about him, so anything that I would have said would have sounded like a spoiled child who didn't get his way. Being the only son, it definitely would have come across that way._

_Grand. Now I'm psychoanalyzing myself. Maybe I have a subconscious fixation with my mother a la Freud or something. Or I'm just completely nuts. All this death and destruction, and I'm only at age… what, eight? I think so. I almost dread what comes next._

* * *

_We're at the Lookout right now. Trunks and Vegeta are in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and Dad just brought Piccolo and Tien back from fighting Cell. We're lucky that Korin had Senzu beans; if we hadn't, I'm pretty sure that they would have died. Huh, weird how I can say that without flinching anymore. I'm only ten and death doesn't affect me anymore. Maybe that's because I know what's waiting on the other side. Most people don't have a clue what happens when they die. Then again, we aren't "most people", I suppose._

_I'm sitting by myself outside the doors to the Time Chamber. They've been in there a really long time! It's almost been a whole day since they went in there, so they should be done pretty soon. If I know Vegeta though, they'll be in there longer than they're supposed to be._

_Dad, Tien, and Piccolo are standing by the pillar nearest me. Tien is whispering about something. I guess he thinks that they're out of my range of hearing. They aren't; I can hear them just fine if I strain a little bit. Piccolo normally catches me at it, though, and he has a way of making me feel ashamed about whatever it is he didn't like me doing._

_Tien keeps looking at me and now Piccolo is talking as well. Oh dear, he looks angry about something. I can hear it too; he's actually hissing, the "esses" drawn out and easily floating to my ears. I can't help it; I have to listen in. I angle my head slightly in their direction and block out everything else going on around me._

"…_not that I don't have faith in you or anything Goku, but can Gohan really do this?" Tien says. I stop breathing for a second and have to remind myself to take another breath. What is he saying? "I know he's strong, but I don't think that he'll ever measure up to you. He's just a kid."_

_What is Tien talking about? I can beat him in a fight easily! My age shouldn't even matter!_

"_I know that we're going to have to save him from something. It's happened in every fight he's been in so far," Tien continues._

"_And yet you're the one who's died," Piccolo retorts. I knew Piccolo would be on my side._

"_The only reason he hasn't died yet is because people keep sacrificing themselves for him!" There's no doubt as to what he's talking about; Piccolo looks furious._

"_I sacrificed myself for him because I wanted to," my mentor says lowly. I can barely hear him. He doesn't talk for a moment. "Tien, I think that you're just jealous of his power. A ten-year-old has more strength than you do and you don't like it." Tien is really red by now. I think Piccolo is right, because Tien's mouth opens and closes for a minute like he's trying to find something to say. He obviously can't defend himself and so he walks away, fists clenched at his sides. Piccolo looks over at me and I quickly look down at the homework Mom insisted that I take with me, but I think that he knows I was listening. He says something to Dad and they walk a little further away to where I can't hear them anymore. I try to focus on my homework, but something sticks out of the conversation._

_Funny. Dad didn't say a word._

* * *

_I always wondered where I got the feeling that I would never be good enough for Dad. It must have been from this. The fact that he didn't even open his mouth to defend me really made a mark if even subconsciously I thought that. This really doesn't seem bad enough for me to forget, but I suppose that my ten-year-old mind thought otherwise. I guess that your father not defending accusations against you is sufficient enough._

* * *

_I want his blood. I want him to suffer the way everyone has suffered since he came to the past. I want him to scream. To be in agonizing pain. I want him to die the most painful death imaginable. That Kamehameha wasn't enough to kill him, but I don't want him to die just yet anyway._

_Dad's shouting something. Finish it? Kill him now?_

_Ha. Don't make me laugh._

_No way. I'm not like you, Dad. Not right now. I could care less that he might do something drastic; I'll be able to stop him before he can do anything._

* * *

_Yup, I did a really good job of stopping Cell, didn't I? Course, it took Dad to die, Trunks to die, and Vegeta to nearly kick the bucket before I could, but who's counting?_

* * *

_Granddad and I are sparring again. Almost all the spars we have, I have the advantage, but for some reason I'm not doing so well today. Granddad is getting in a lot of hits and I'm not getting many. Strange._

"_What's wrong with you today?" Granddad asks. "You're never this weak!" Weak? Who is he calling weak? I'm fighting him at his power level so he doesn't get overwhelmed so quickly. I have to shove my anger down before it takes over my mind._

"_You can't fight worth a damn today," he says. "No wonder Kakarotto died if this is how you were fighting."_

_A red hazes covers my vision and everything slows down. I lunge forward, catching him off guard and putting him on the defensive. Damn it, I __**know**__ that it was my fault Dad died! Granddad doesn't have to keep reminding me! Does he think that I dream happy-happy joy-joy stuff? I see Dad's face every night, telling me how disappointed he is that I let him die when I could have ended it so easily. Trunks is there too, wanting to know why he died if I had the power to stop Cell. Even Android 16 is there, wanting to know the same thing._

_I hear Raditz shouting at me to stop and suddenly everything goes back to normal. I look down and see Granddad's body at my feet. What the hell? What happened?_

"_Gohan, what the hell do you think you were doing?" Raditz snaps at me, picking Granddad up and throwing him over his shoulder. "Are you trying to kill him?"_

_All I can do is look at Granddad in horror. He looks dead. His ki is down to almost nothing. He needs the rejuvenation tank, and fast. He's bleeding from everywhere he could possibly bleed from._

_Oh god, I really was trying to kill him. I lost control._

* * *

_Losing control. Isn't that the story of my life? Half these memories seem to be focused around times I lost control of my Saiyan side. Funny, ever since I got dropped in Granddad and Raditz's laps, I've been much more able to control my Saiyan side. It's funny how when you deny a part of yourself, events happen in such a way that you need that part more than anything. I never did like fighting when I was younger, but I suppose that with my father being who he was, it was inevitable that I became a fighter. And my mother, for that matter. She denies being a fighter just as much as I once did, but she __**was**__ a finalist in the World Martial Arts Tournament once upon a time. I suppose that I didn't have much of a chance._

* * *

_Blood is everywhere. It isn't just rivers of blood – it's a whole ocean. I'm covered in it, almost drenched. The smell would make me gag under normal circumstances, but then again, these aren't exactly normal, even for fugitives such as ourselves. I'm too busy spilling more blood to have time to retch over something so banal as the smell of it._

_Xuboh-sei was supposed to be easy-in, easy-out. There were maybe twenty Saiyans that had made their home there, but apparently those twenty Saiyans have a lot of relatives. We were ambushed almost the second we set foot on the planet, and the flood hasn't stopped since. I can't figure out where all these people are coming from, and there are so many of them that I still haven't had time to transform. I've even had to resort to killing them, and many of those kills have been messy._

_So much blood…_

* * *

_I think that if I could, I'd be vomiting. Hell, I might even be doing that, for all I know. It's not like I can feel my body at the moment. I killed a lot of people that day; 50,000 soms, I learned, was enough money to risk thousands of lives over, even if they had absolutely no chance. I'm surprised I didn't go into shock over it – I did after killing Frieza's men. Then again, if I forgot it almost the instant that it happened, I suppose I wouldn't need to go into shock in the first place._

"_What's the matter, Dad? Getting tired already?" I'm disgusted by how weak my father is. Oh sure, he's stronger than he was before, but he's still weaker than I am by a long shot. "Really, Dad, I'd expected more from you. Getting soft in our old age, are we?"_

"_Why are you doing this, Maze?" Dad asks angrily. _

_I laugh at the question. So stupid! "Why not?" I answer, shrugging. "You put me through hell; it's only fair that I get to do the same to you, right?"_

"_What are you talking about?" Dad asks, looking like he doesn't have a clue about what I'm talking about. Actually, he probably doesn't. He's a complete idiot; I should know. "You're my son! I would never do something like that to you!"_

_My amusement dies in an instant and I grind his face into what remained of the tournament ring. "You did!" I say, picking him up and attempting to paint the wall with him. Unfortunately, he manages to stop himself. "You seem to think that I liked to fight from the time I learned how. You thought that I __**enjoyed**__ it. Well, guess what, Dad? I __**hated**__ fighting." Memories of Piccolo dying, of Krillin dying, of Trunks, Vegeta, even Dad dying flit through my mind and I shove them back ruthlessly. Just because I'm made up of the emotions from those memories doesn't mean I have to see them._

"_I hated hurting people," I continued, glaring down at him as he continued to gasp for air from my punch to his stomach. Good, let him suffer. So oxymoronic to what I'm saying. I have to savor the irony. "I didn't care who it was. Hell, I probably would have let Frieza do what he wanted." A memory of my mother yelling at me for sneaking out to train crosses my mind and I tap my chin. "It was probably thanks to mother," I say. Dad tried to move and I glared at him again, the memory disappearing._

"_Both of you, really. All the arguing about what I was going to do with my life, the training with Piccolo, the schoolwork at home… I hated all of it."_

_I go off on a tangent about no one thinking that I would ever be as strong as the legendary Son Goku and how he never noticed how I felt about how my life had been. Watching the horror grow on his face was almost as good as beating him into a pulp. Almost._

_Then I realize that I'm continually saying "I" and so I clarify. "I keep saying 'I', but it was really your precious Gohan that heard and saw all this, you know. Gohan was the one who thought all of this." I smile at the shock that covers my father's face. No doubt he had been hoping that it was just me, just Maze, who was thinking these awful, sacrilegious things about his own family._

"_Gohan has no clue what's going on right now. It'll just be one big blank spot in his memory. But he'll be fine – he's used to it. After all, what's one more hole in his head?"_

* * *

_Well, I remember it now, you bastard. I hate Babadi. I can fully acknowledge that I want the chance to kill him slowly, to torture him until he begs for me to kill him. Not that I will. I can't, for that matter – Dad killed him already, which is surprising in and of itself. That more than anything shows how much he's changed over the past seven years. And even though I lived with two Saiyans, one of which had been purging planets for about twenty years before we met, I still don't like to kill. I'd make an exception for Babadi, though. No qualms about that._

…_wait… now everything's gone dark… is… is it over?_

* * *

Goku sat in the chair by the bed that Gohan occupied for the last two months, head in his hands. Bulma had offered the medical facilities at Capsule Corporation, but Chi-Chi had insisted that Gohan be brought home, believing that familiar surroundings would help her son recover faster. Goku agreed with her, though he did think that "familiar surroundings" might be a bit of a stretch. Gohan had not been home in seven years. Knowing that it would make Chi-Chi feel better, however, the Saiyan had not said anything. The two had placed Gohan in their own bed and slept in Goten's room, when they actually did sleep. It was hard to rest when the fate of one's son's mind was up in the air.

Gohan was no longer screaming and flailing around, at least. On the Supreme Kai's recommendation, Bulma had put Gohan into a medically induced coma. Though Gohan's pain was only mental, his body was interpreting it as something wrong with the physical aspect of things. Putting him in a coma, though not relieving the turmoil within, kept the teenager from trying to tear a hole in his head.

Shin and Kibito (who had been brought back to life with the Dragonballs) had elected to stay at the Lookout until Gohan had reawakened. Shin returned every few days to check on Gohan's mental state. The first visit did not reveal any change; on the contrary, it seemed that the situation had worsened. Apparently, depriving Gohan's ability to move focused his mind on the memories all that much more. For one and a half terrifying weeks, the very real possibility that things had been made much worse by the coma loomed over their heads.

Then came that dreary, rainy Thursday night. Shin returned to the Son residence once again for his examination of Gohan's mental state. Gohan's reactions to the mental invasions had not been promising; he had tensed up, his fists clenching and his face twisting in pain despite being in a coma. The Supreme Kai's face had looked graver and graver each time, though whether it was because of the condition of Gohan's mind or what exactly he saw was unknown.

This time, however, Gohan merely sighed and turned over. Shin's face brightened. "He will be all right," the Supreme Kai said happily. "All his memories have not yet assimilated into his mind, but they have slowed down to a bearable level. He should be fine. Wait four days to make sure and then Ms. Bulma can bring him out of the coma."

At Chi-Chi's insistence, they waited a full five days before they were to wake the teenager up, just in case. However, when Bulma changed out the medication to bring him out of the coma, nothing happened. Gohan did not even twitch a finger. With the Supreme Kai gone and unavailable for reconnaissance, the Z Fighters and their families were forced to wait and see what happened.

And so Goku sat by the bed, anxiously watching every breath his son took. There had been a shift rotation of sorts set up – Chi-Chi's doing, of course – and though it was not Goku's turn, he did not care. It took nothing short of Vegeta dragging him away from the room to even eat. Right now, however, it was the dead of night; everyone else, even Chi-Chi, was asleep. Goku's eyes never left the boy in the bed, because despite the darkness his sharp Saiyan eyes could detect every movement.

The Saiyan's eyes, therefore, were immediately drawn to his son's right hand as it clenched slightly. Goku jumped up immediately, eyes widening as Gohan yawned, his own eyes blinking sleepily before rubbing them. The demi-Saiyan kicked the blankets off and put his feet on the floor as he stretched, but as he got up, he swayed and fell back onto the bed.

"Gohan!" Goku whisper-screamed, placing his hands on the teenager's shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Granddad?" Gohan asked loudly, squinting up at the Saiyan's form, backframed by moonlight.

"Granddad?" Goku repeated dumbly, his stomach sinking slightly. "No, Gohan, it's me. It's Daddy."

"Dad?" Gohan sounded confused. What was wrong with him? "What's going on? Why do I feel so weak?"

"Gohan…" The Saiyan stopped, and then asked carefully, "What do you remember last?"

The hybrid did not answer for a moment, thinking carefully. "Majin Buu," he said finally. "I used the Final Spirit Cannon on him. After that though… everything else is a big blank… well, some of it, anyway."

"You've been asleep for two months, son," Goku said. "Do you remember anything? Dreams?"

"Well, if you're talking about all the awful memories that I got to relive while I was asleep, then yes, I remember those too," Gohan said sarcastically.

Goku was taken aback. Since when did Gohan talk like that? He had a suspicion that it was linked to the "granddad" slip from earlier. He ignored the sarcasm for the moment in lieu of caring for his son. "Are you hungry? Chi-Chi is asleep, but I can make something for you."

"I'm starving!" Gohan cheered. "Did I have an IV to give me the nutrition I needed?" He glanced down at his arm, noticing for the first time that a needle was stuck in it. "Oh."

"Yup," Goku affirmed anyway, pleased that he understood what Gohan was asking. Bulma had explained all about how Gohan was going to need what were the equivalent of liquid meals to keep him healthy while he slept. Of course, it had been Vegeta who had explained it to him in layman's terms, condescendingly and with several "third-class idiots" sprinkled in.

The Saiyan scooped his son up in his arms effortlessly despite Gohan's protestations. "Like you can walk anyway," the elder man said teasingly. Gohan crossed his arms petulantly, but stopped complaining. They made it into the kitchen with no mishaps and Goku set Gohan down in a chair. The second he came within an inch of the stove, however, a shout emanated from the second floor.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THAT STOVE, SON GOKU!" the matron of the Son family cried.

Father and son stared at each other for a few seconds as she came barreling down the stairs.

"How _does_ she do that?"

Read and review!

~tp


	5. Meeting Goten

I know I said that I wouldn't put any more author's notes up here, but this needs to be addressed.

I've gotten several comments on how long it takes for me to update this story, especially in regards to how quickly I updated **AIE**. **AIE** was already written at the time I began posting it. This, however, is not. Between the story not being written, trying to write longer chapters, and real like (which interferes more often than I'd like), the updates will probably continue to be once a month, give or take a few days. I can sacrifice quality for speed, but I don't think that anyone would want that. This isn't a rant at someone; it's simply informing you readers.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Meeting Goten**

The day after he woke up, Gohan met Goten.

It was a bit of an accident; they had not seen each other yet. Goku and Chi-Chi had wanted to tell Gohan of his brother's existence before letting them meet one another. They were afraid that he would be too upset to listen to the story of Goten's conception, that Goten was not a replacement for Gohan at all and had been a surprise. After Gohan had gone back to sleep the night he finally woke up, Goku woke his youngest son and took him to Capsule Corp to have a sleepover with Trunks. Goten had been thrilled of course, and did not question why his daddy decided this in the middle of the night.

But Trunks did.

Trunks was a thorough mix of his mother and father; he had his father's arrogance and sarcasm, his mother's genius and curiosity, and both of their stubbornness. So when he woke up to find Goten had somehow managed to get into his bed (and _yes_, Trunks and Goten both contended, best friends slept in each others' beds at sleepovers), he wanted to know why. This was not a normal occurrence. After demanding answers from his mother and not getting them, he decided to find out for himself. He roped Goten in his scheme as usual, and soon both children were on their way to Mount Paozu to discover the mystery.

Goten sensed the new ki first. "Trunks, do you feel that?" he said loudly. They were flying fast enough that the landscape around them was a blur.

"Sense what, Goten?" the purple-haired boy asked. Then, "Oh yeah! Isn't that the guy that was fighting Majin Buu?" Goten nodded fervently as he looked back at Trunks and opened his mouth to explain who it was, but crashed through the top of a mountain instead.

"Owie!" the Goku-look-alike cried, rubbing his head.

Trunks snorted. "Good job, Goten," he said sarcastically.

The sarcasm, per the norm, went over Goten's head. "No it wasn't!" he said petulantly. "It hurt!" Trunks rolled his eyes, not bothering to retort. They had arrived at Goten's house anyway.

Goten ran into the house first, Trunks close behind. "Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy! Why did I get to go over to Trunks' house last night? Hey, you're awake!" This last statement was directed toward the man standing in the middle of the kitchen. The man was staring at Goten with a look of shock on his face. "Kakarotto?" he whispered confusedly.

For his part, Goten stared at the man in interest. His mother had said that this man was Gohan, and that Gohan was his brother. Goten knew a lot about Gohan – his mother talked about him often – but this was the first time the young boy had seen his brother since Goku had put him in his and Chi-Chi's room two months ago. Gohan was even taller than Daddy was! Not as tall as Mr. Piccolo though. _No one_ was as tall as Mr. Piccolo.

"Who are you?" Trunks interrupted. No one had told him anything about this man and yet Goten knew who he was. This was also an uncommon occurrence and it did not sit well with the young demi-Saiyan. He was the one with the knowledge and the plan, not Goten.

"Trunks, that's Gohan!" Goten admonished him. "He's my brother!" He looked back at Gohan. "Hi! I'm Goten!"

The words rang in the strangely silent kitchen. Goten grinned up at his big brother, but it faded as Gohan's expression went from shock to horror to anger. The oldest demi-Saiyan closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again to glare at his mother and father. "So glad to know that I've been missed," he said coldly, and walked out of the room, a hand on the wall to keep himself from falling.

Chi-Chi immediately exploded, yelling at Goten and Trunks for coming to the house when they had been told to stay at Capsule Corp. It was here that Goku interjected sheepishly, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Actually, Chi-Chi, I forgot to tell Goten that he needed to stay there," he said, and so the brunt of Chi-Chi's anger fell onto him.

Trunks, who was not used to the father not arguing with the mother, was fascinated by Goku's meek demeanor and tolerance of his wife's strident verbal lashing. Goten, on the other hand, had seen it all before, and decided to sneak off to find Gohan and see if he was still angry.

***

Gohan stormed out of the room, angered beyond belief. Actually, he… well, he limped out of the room, but he was still angry. How dare his parents do this? Goten was obviously around seven years old – he must have been conceived after the Cell Games. Did they feel the need to replace himself with another child? It was not like he would never come home; his parents should have known that he would find his way back!

When the hybrid saw Goten, he honestly thought that Kakarotto had somehow been able to follow him from the new timeline. When Goten introduced himself and said that he was his brother, Gohan's heart had skipped a beat. It was just like the time that Granddad had told him to leave because he was messing up the timeline. It felt like he had been hit by a sledgehammer. Betrayal was an ugly feeling, he thought, going up to his room like he used to when he got into a fight with his mother. Of course, she usually sent him up there, but that was neither here nor there.

Except… it was not _his_ room anymore. The room, always so neat and clean when he lived in it, was extremely messy. Small shirts, pants, and shoes were strewn about the floor, as were toys and a few books. The bed was unmade and the sheets had stains on them, what looked like dirt or mud. Gohan goggled at the sight, at a loss as to how his mother let this be.

What really caught the demi-Saiyan's eye, however, were all the papers taped along the wall. They were crayoned drawings, most of which were obviously drawn by Goten. Though crudely drawn, Gohan was able to figure out what was going on in each one. There was one of Goten and Trunks (after all, who else could the other child possibly be? He was a dead ringer for Mirai.), looking like they were fighting. There was one of what could only be Piccolo (who else was green?), something that made Gohan chuckle despite his anger as he wondered if Piccolo had seen it. There was another picture of a person that must have been Vegeta – the other person next to him was Bulma, if the blue hair was any indication.

The last drawing made him stop. It was a picture of the Son family; that much was obvious. Goku and Goten stood out, the big spikes of hair only slightly embellished. Chi-Chi was standing beside them, dressed in an outfit he did not recognize. After all, she very rarely changed her outfit of choice; she had been dressed in the same style of outfit for as long as he could remember, which was saying something now that he had all of his memories back. "Mommy", "Daddy", and "Goten" were sloppily written over the heads of the corresponding pictures.

Unlike the other three Sons, the last figure had blond hair. He was wearing what looked to be a white shirt with black pants. He was standing next to the figure named "Goten" and holding his hand. Written above the blond hair was the name "Gohan".

Gohan stared at the picture for a moment. What the hell? How did Goten even know what his older brother looked like when he drew this?

"Gohan?"

The demi-Saiyan jumped. He had been so absorbed in looking at the pictures that he had not heard Goten open the door. "What?" he asked. It came out harsher than he intended it to be, and he winced.

Goten flinched a tiny bit. "Are you still angry, Gohan?" he asked tentatively.

Gohan sighed. "No, not really. I'm just confused." Goten cocked his head slightly, looking so much like Kakarotto for a second that Gohan's heart clenched.

"Why are you confused?"

The elder brother struggled with his words for a moment, trying to figure out how to say what he was feeling in terms a seven-year-old(ish) would understand. "I was gone for a long time," he said slowly, sitting down on the bed. "I didn't have a brother before, and now I do. Everything's different."

Goten came over and gingerly sat down next to his brother. Gohan winced again and placed a hand on the boy's back, rubbing it in lieu of an apology. For some reason, Goten thought of this as an invitation and clambered into his lap. "Mommy talked about you a lot," he told the surprised teenager. "Daddy didn't like to talk about you, but he would if I asked. He always looked sad when he talked about you, though. Mr. Piccolo told me that I'm a lot like you too."

"Did he?" Gohan asked, smiling at the mention of Piccolo, though a bit nonplussed at the sudden change in topic. Goten addressed Piccolo the same way he used to address him. "Did he tell you that he was my first trainer?" Goten's eyes widened and he shook his head, soft hair slapping Gohan in the face. Spitting out a mouthful of hair, Gohan continued, "He started training me when I was a little bit younger than you. He threw me at mountains so I would learn how to fly."

Goten bounced up and down. "I ran into a mountain today when Trunks and me were flying here!" he said excitedly. "It hurt, and Trunks said I did a good job, but I know I didn't! It hurt!" Gohan smiled into Goten's hair. It seemed that the boy had inherited more than just looks from their father. He wondered how strong Goten was; he could tell that the boy was at least as strong as he himself had been before the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

"Goten, do you want to go outside and train with me?" the hybrid asked.

The question sounded less confident than he would have liked, but Goten's eyes became huge again. "Really?" he breathed.

"Really," Gohan confirmed. He needed to start getting back into shape. The late dinner last night and breakfast this morning had helped him regain some of his strength back, but a visit to Dende would hopefully help his body progress to what it had been.

Goten cheered and opened the window. "Let's go!" he said enthusiastically.

"Hold on, squirt, I need to go see Dende before we start," Gohan told him. "Grab onto my arm and we'll get there just like Dad takes you to Trunks' house, okay?" Goten nodded obediently and did as he was told. Gohan smiled at him and then focused on Dende's ki, the two of them disappearing a split second later.

***

Piccolo was hovering in midair in his favorite meditating position. His eyes were closed and he looked more like he was sleeping than meditating. This assumption was proved false, however, when a green hand suddenly lashed out and caught a young demi-Saiyan by the foot, letting him hang upside down. Goten laughed in delight.

"Hiya Mr. Piccolo!" the boy crowed.

Piccolo rolled his eyes and dropped his catch, who only barely managed to keep from landing on his head. "What are you doing here, kid?"

"Gohan wanted to see Dende!" Goten replied. "Then we're going to train, Mr. Piccolo!"

Gohan was awake? Piccolo's head whipped around and he saw Gohan talking to Dende. As he watched, Gohan somewhat clumsily sat down with his legs crossed and Dende held out his hands. A pale white light emanated from the young god and covered Gohan, who stiffened. His muscles bulged for a second and then went back to normal as the light faded and Dende lowered his hands. The teenaged hybrid rose to his feet much more gracefully than he had sat down. He looked much healthier than he had before.

"So, you're awake," Piccolo commented unnecessarily, smiling slightly when Gohan jumped and looked at him guiltily.

"I was going to say hi, Piccolo," Gohan defended. "I just didn't want anyone else to see me like this if I could help it."

One hairless eyebrow rose. "And since when have you cared about what you looked like?" the Namekian asked sardonically.

"Since I lived with a man who was more concerned about the state of his hair after a fight than the state of his body," the demi-Saiyan shot back.

Piccolo's second eyebrow rose to match his first one. "Someone's grown a backbone," he said easily. Gohan reddened. "It's about damn time, kid." The blush faded and Gohan glared at him. The Namekian chuckled.

"Can we train now Gohan?" Goten demanded, pulling on the pants of Gohan's too short pants. Piccolo's hand suddenly shot out and a light enveloped his pupil for the second time in as many minutes. When the light faded, Gohan was wearing a replica of the gi he had worn at the Cell Games sans the cape. Gohan looked at his mentor, startled.

"You were wearing Goku's clothes and it's obvious," Piccolo said, shrugging. "If you're going to train, you need clothes that fit or else you're going to be more worried about the fit than the fight."

Gohan's own eyebrow rose. "Are you a fashion expert now, Mr. Piccolo?" He dodged a ki blast, laughing as he picked up a giggling Goten. "Bye!" he called, and jumped off the edge of the Lookout. Piccolo shook his head.

"He's still not completely well," Dende commented, coming to stand beside his fellow Namekian. "I did as much as I could for his body, but he'll have to eat very well for a while before he's back to what he was."

Piccolo smirked. "Considering who his mother is, I have no doubt that he'll regain his strength in no time."

"I suppose you're right," Dende laughed, but his grin faded quickly. "I had an opportunity to look in his mind, though. He's already pushing things that he doesn't want to think about away. Not forgetting them, but he's filling his mind with fun things to think about, if that makes any sense."

"I'm not surprised," Piccolo replied, closing his eyes. He opened them again. "Well, we'll find out what has happened in the last seven years eventually."

"Tomorrow," Dende said authoritatively. "Miss Bulma is planning a party to celebrate Gohan's return and I have no doubt that someone will ask where he was." He watched events below for a moment, stopping briefly on the Son household and the miserable faces within. "Then we will have an idea of what to do that will help Gohan."

The two Namekians were quiet for a moment. Then, "Why are you talking like you have no idea what a contraction is?"

"Shut up, Piccolo. I'm a god; I'm supposed to sound mystical."

***

Goku and Chi-Chi were still in the kitchen. Chi-Chi was taking her frustrations out on the dishware, cleaning the plates over and over again. Goku was sitting at the table; he knew better than to interfere with her doings. This happened fairly often, after all – the Saiyan always managed to do something to anger his wife at least once a week.

Suddenly, Goku's head jerked up. Goten's energy had spiked sharply, as had Gohan's. He was fairly sure that Gohan would not take his frustrations out on the youngest Son, but there was a niggling doubt in the back of his mind. Goku had witnessed how much Gohan had changed since anyone had seen him last and he would be the first to admit that he was worried about it. "Chi-Chi, I'm going to go take a walk," he told his wife. Chi-Chi nodded absently, too lost in her work and her thoughts to respond otherwise. He left the house and Instant Transmissioned to his sons' location.

The Saiyan reappeared at a familiar site. The large crater left from Gohan's fight with Cell was still there, a stark contrast to the mountains around it. Smaller holes, left from various fighters being hit into the ground, were halfway filled with sand. The man closed his eyes for a moment, letting the bittersweet memories flow through his mind.

A crash woke Goku from his thoughts and he looked around worriedly, spotting a plume of dust not too far away. He was sure that it was Goten that would emerge from the rubble and started forward, worried about the boy. To his surprise, however, it was Gohan who stood up and dusted himself off, eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he surveyed his brother, who was still floating in the sky.

"Interesting… When did he become a Super Saiyan?" the teenager asked, looking over at his father.

Goku blinked. He had not realized that Gohan had sensed his presence. "Not too long ago," he replied. "It just happened one day. He didn't even know how to fly yet." He smiled slightly at the memory.

"That's so unfair," Gohan commented. "You had to watch Krillin die, I had to go through eight months of hard training, who knows what Vegeta had to do, and Goten just changes." He looked at the man next to him. "Sorry about earlier," he added sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

"It's fine, Gohan," Goku said softly. "Your mom and I were going to tell you before Goten got home, but… well, we both know how that turned out." He was silent for a moment. "We found out that Chi-Chi was pregnant about a month after you disappeared. It wasn't planned."

"Yeah, I thought that was probably what happened," Gohan replied. "I just had to get over the shock first." He laughed suddenly. "I imagine that Granddad and Raditz felt about the same way when I appeared."

"What? Raditz? Why are you talking about him?" his father demanded. "And who's 'Granddad'?"

Gohan sighed. "I still have to explain what's happened in the last seven years. I really don't want to have to tell it more than once though, and I know that everyone will want to know."

"Yeah... about that…" Goku rubbed his neck as well. "Bulma called right after you left. She wants to have a party tomorrow." Gohan laughed.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" the teenager mused.

Goten landed in front of them, pouting. "Gohan, why aren't you fighting me?" he demanded.

"Sorry, squirt," Gohan said. "I was talking to Dad. Ready to start again?" He shifted into an unfamiliar stance, while Goten assumed a more familiar Turtle-style one.

Goku smiled and backed away to sit on a neighboring rock, letting his sons begin their sparring anew.

* * *

Read and review!

~tp


	6. Story Time, Offers, and a Trip

Sorry for the... six-month delay? Erm... well, all I have to say for myself is that this past semester was horrible. I can't believe I did so well grade-wise! I know this is short compared to previous chapters, but I hit what I thought was a pretty good ending spot, so... Yeah. Again, sorry for how long this took. I don't know when the next update will be - I'm taking two class in Summer I, one class in Summer II, and 18 hours for the fall semester. Hopefully I'll scrounge up some time to write. :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

* * *

**Chapter Six: Story Time, Offers, and a Trip**

Everyone had come to Capsule Corporation for Bulma's party. Even Tien and Chiaotzu, who no one had seen for the past seven years, were waiting impatiently in Bulma's living room for the Son family to arrive. Knowing Goku, however, the family would probably show up two hours late. It was a surprise when Goku and Goten suddenly appeared out of thin air, unaccompanied by Chi-Chi and Gohan. Goten had his hands over his ears and his eyes scrunched shut. Goku just looked tired as he tapped his son on the shoulder, apparently a signal to open his eyes.

"Uh… Goku? What's wrong?" Bulma asked, a hand against her chest. No matter how often Goku used his Instant Transmission, she would never get used to it. "Where's Chi-Chi and Gohan?"

Goku shook his head. "Gohan and Chi-Chi are… having a discussion," he said, phrasing his words carefully. Goten looked up at his father in confusion.

"They were arguing, Daddy!" the boy said. "They were yelling really loud!" He turned to the group at large, not understanding Goku's frantic motions to zip his mouth and be quiet. "Gohan didn't want to wear what Mommy picked out for him." Goku sighed.

"Gohan… Gohan has changed," the Saiyan explained. "I don't know how to describe it."

"He's grown a backbone, Goku," said Piccolo, who was standing in a corner of the room. "It's as simple as that."

"Maybe so," Goku shrugged. He looked around the room and spotted the buffet table against the far wall. His eyes lit up. "Food! You always have the best food, Bulma!" Before anyone could do so much as blink, the Saiyan had started stuffing his face, seemingly forgetting about his wife and son.

Vegeta sprang up from where he had been leaning against the wall. "You're not going to eat all the food, Kakarotto!" he said angrily, stomping over to his rival and grabbing him by the shirt. Goku blinked at him questioningly, trying to talk with his mouth completely full and spraying the other man with food particles. Vegeta let out an inarticulate yell of rage and punched the younger man in return. It took two second to descend into a scuffle, all over food.

While everyone else was watching and/or rolling their eyes at the scene (in Bulma's case, yelling at the two about causing damage to her house), a slightly repentant demi-Saiyan and his still sniffling mother arrived in an unoccupied corner of the room. Both pairs of eyes widened at the messy sight in front of them. "What the hell…?" Gohan whispered. Chi-Chi could only nod in agreement, murmuring an absent, "Language, Gohan."

Wincing at a particularly loud crash of what was probably priceless porcelain and not seeing any end to the scrap in sight, Gohan vanished, reappearing in between the two brawling fighters. Before the two older men knew what was happening, Gohan grabbed their hair and banged their foreheads together. Both yelped and staggered back, clutching their heads in pain.

"What the hell is your head made out of, Kakarotto?" Vegeta demanded, rubbing the already appearing bruise.

"Whatever your head is made out of, I bet," Gohan quipped. "Are you two done now?" Vegeta glared at him and started forward, hands flexing in anticipation of getting them around the presumptuous brat's neck, but a glare from the demi-Saiyan stopped him cold. "Do you really want to start with me, Vegeta?" the teenager asked lowly. The prince wavered for a moment before growling and slinking back to his own corner to sulk.

Krillin laughed nervously. "Wow, Gohan," he said. "Talk about making an entrance!"

Gohan shrugged, rubbing his neck uncomfortably. "Well, that was how Granddad always got through to Raditz and me when we were fighting about something." At the confused and dumbfounded faces, he reddened. "I guess I should start from the beginning, huh?"

"I should say so!" Yamcha exclaimed. "What's this about Raditz?" Though he had not been present at the fight against Goku's older brother, he had heard tell of it plenty of times.

Gohan sighed and sat down in a random armchair. Everyone not seated or leaning comfortably against a wall followed his example, sensing that this was going to take a while.

The Z Fighters were a very good audience, barring Piccolo and Vegeta (though that was more than expected). They gasped and laughed and cheered and growled at all the right places and only interrupted when they did not understand something. His mother and Bulma even cried a few times – mostly when he talked about killing people, but a few other times too.

"What's the equivalent of 5,000 soms?" Bulma had asked, swiping at her cheeks with a rather soggy tissue. Vegeta glared at Gohan for making his woman cry, but the teenager ignored him.

"It was nearly a year's pay for the average soldier," Gohan replied. "But it was when the bounty got raised to 50,000 soms that we had to watch every step and then some." This was too much for the women, who burst into tears again. The men looked at them, confused. Sure it was bad, but it wasn't worth crying over!

"After that, we mostly stayed on Kanassa-sei," the demi-Saiyan added. "I don't know why no one thought of us being there – Granddad had certainly babbled about it enough to random people that it should have been obvious. But I guess that was good fortune on our parts. Or maybe Shin had something to do with it."

"You know, that was kind of weird, him just showing up like that," Krillin remarked, remembering Gohan's narrative of learning the Instantaneous Movement technique.

"Just like what?" a voice asked in the former monk's ear. Krillin shrieked (like a girl, his fellow fighters would later rib him) and spun around, falling into a defensive stance. The Supreme Kai and Kibito stood there, amusement clear on their faces.

"I would apologize, but I fear that I would not mean it," Shin told Krillin, still smiling slightly. Then he turned to face Gohan, the smile growing larger. "I see that you are better, if more in body than in spirit. I am glad."

Gohan bowed slightly, still seated in the chair. He had felt the Kai poking around in his mind during the past two months, something about which the demi-Saiyan would normally have been very angry, especially considering the circumstances of his enslavement to Babadi. However, it was obviously something that had to be done, as he knew that his parents would not have let Shin do such a thing if there had been another choice.

"Is there anything more I can do to help you?" the Supreme Kai asked. "I – We – The entire _universe_ is in your debt. Majin Buu was a powerful evil, one that I do not believe that we could have defeated had you not suddenly appeared." Everyone ignored Vegeta's low grunt of indignation, something that all and sundry had learned to do the moment the Saiyan's feet touched the earth's surface. "Nothing is too much to ask for, even up to half the universe." His smile turned into a grin. "Well, I suppose the other Kais would have a problem with that, but I am sure that you understand what I mean."

Gohan eyed him in surprise, not expecting this. Neither was anyone else, if the gaping faces were anything to go by. Anything he wanted? "Thank you," he began slowly, "but I don't know what I would want to ask for." A complete lie – he knew what he wanted. "Do I have to decide now?"

"Of course not," Shin said kindly. "But I know what you are thinking, and it is in fact possible. However, I do not know the consequences of such an action, so please consider your request carefully."

"Reading my mind again?" the demi-Saiyan asked lightly, though his eyes were hard.

Shin frowned disapprovingly. "Of course not," he replied sternly. "I do not delve into another's mind lightly. It is the highest form of invasion of privacy, as you well know. But I am no simpleton; it is easy to determine what you want."

Gohan nodded apologetically. "Sorry," he mumbled, slightly abashed. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "It's just…" He shrugged, unable to put his feelings into words. The Supreme Kai, of course, knew exactly what Gohan meant. Though he did not speak, his face softened and he nodded, accepting the apology.

Instead, Shin turned to the group at large. "I must be going. I only came here to see how Gohan was doing for myself. I hope to see you again soon." He bowed slightly, as did the ever-silent Kibito, and the two vanished into thin air.

Gohan stared vacantly at the spot the two heavenly beings had occupied two seconds before. Then he stood up, and his family and friends were once again forcibly reminded of just how much he had grown, both physically and mentally. He towered over most of them in what would have been an intimidating manner had it been anyone else. As it was, he had a slightly lost look on his face, and his hands opened and closed helplessly. "I…" He trailed off, swallowing. He cleared his throat and spoke again. "I need to go – I have to think." And just like that, he was gone.

When no one moved, Chi-Chi stood up. Her eyes were full of fresh tears, but she did not let them fall. "Goku, Goten, I think it's time we went home. Bulma, thank you for inviting us all here. Everyone, thank you for coming. I'm sure that Gohan appreciated it." Goku stood silently by his wife, placing a hand on her shoulder, his other hand coming up to his forehead. Goten grasped his father's leg, Goku nodded at everyone, and then they disappeared.

The little island held a lot of memories. So did the cave. There were charred marks on the floor both from campfires and from ki blasts gone wrong. Bones littered the floor, mostly from previous meals eaten in the cave. There was even an apple core, dried and nibbled on as it was. Shoved in the very back of the cave was a blanket, much more tattered and torn than when it was last used. Wrapped in the remains of the blanket was a small sword, complete with scabbard.

Gohan reverently picked the blade up, remembering when Piccolo had given it to him. Rather, he remembered waking up to find himself clothed in a new gi and the weapon attached to his back. There had been a full moon that night and the young Gohan had made the mistake of looking up at it, immediately transforming into the Oozaru as a result. Piccolo had destroyed the moon then. 'No wonder half the island's gone,' the teenager thought sardonically. 'The tide isn't adding any more ground to one side as it takes from the other side.'

The sword came free of the scabbard quickly, something that surprised Gohan. Even though it had been as far away from the elements as it could possibly be, he had still expected the sword to rust after being outside twelve or so years. Shrugging this off – after all, Piccolo made it, so who knew what it was actually made of – he examined the weapon critically. He remembered a time when it was hard to lift with both hands, hands that did not cover the whole of the handle. Now, one hand was almost too big for the entire handle. It was also extremely easy to lift, especially considering the fact that the top half of the blade was gone. He had forgotten that it had broken. Actually, he could not even remember _how_ it had broken. Probably trying to get away from one dinosaur or another. It was too bad that it was not whole – Gohan would have liked to practice.

"If you would like a sword, I can get you one."

Gohan yelped and whirled around. Shin was standing there, an outright grin on his face. "Damn it, Shin, don't do that!" the demi-Saiyan exclaimed.

"I do not know what you are talking about," the Supreme Kai replied airily. "It is not my fault if you cannot sense me."

"Yeah right," Gohan grumbled. "What sword are you talking about?"

"There is a sword on the planet of the Kais that has been there for millennia," the Kai explained. "No one has been able to move it from its place, because it was sheathed in solid rock. However, I believe that you will be able to extract it."

"And if I do, do I become king?" Gohan snarked. He rolled his eyes at Shin's confused look. "Never mind. It's an Earth thing, I suppose. A squire took a sword out of a stone and became king."

"I see," Shin responded, warily eyeing his companion. "If you will come with me, I will take you to the planet of the Kais. If Kibito finds out about this, he will kill me, ruler or not."

"I won't tell him," the hybrid promised, placing a hand on Shin's shoulder. "Although I probably –" The world went dark for a few seconds as the Supreme Kai suddenly started their trip. "—should," Gohan finished when they landed again. "Did you have to do that?"

"Again, I do not know of what you speak," Shin replied, childish face the picture of innocence. "This way." He rose up in the air and rocketed off, Gohan not far behind.

It took almost twenty minutes to reach their destination; why Shin did not take them straight to the sword, Gohan did not know. He did not bother to ask. A tall spire of rock stood apart from the rest of the terrain around it. It had steps carved into the rock itself, spiraling around the spire all the way to the top. The moment Gohan's feet touched the lush, grassy ground, a shock of energy went through him. It was strong enough that he leapt back into the air, hovering just above the surface. Even then, he could see little sparks of what could have been electricity arching up to meet the soles of his shoes. "Uh… Shin?" he called nervously. "What's happening?"

The Supreme Kai looked back at him. Seeing the electricity, he raised one white eyebrow. "I am not sure," he said, studying the interaction with great interest. "It should not harm you, however. It is safe to land." Gohan looked at him with trepidation, but reluctantly landed again. He shivered as the current traveled through his body. It did not hurt, but it was definitely an odd feeling.

The teenager followed Shin to a pedestal of what looked like marble, ignoring the strange sensations. Atop the pedestal was the hilt of the sword. It was wrapped in silver wire and topped with a turquoise-colored stone. It did not look like any gem Gohan had ever seen. When asked, Shin said, "This is a derdriu, from the planet of Ngaire. It is stronger than the diamond on Earth, which is why it was chosen. Decorative and practical all at once." He gestured at the sword hilt. "Try to take it out." Gohan swaggered up to the pedestal. With his strength, this should be a piece of cake!

Of course, the demi-Saiyan was proven completely wrong when all that happened was that his hands slipped off the hilt and he landed flat on his back, gasping as the air was knocked out of him. Shin's amused face appeared in his vision, upside down. "Not so easy, hmm?" he asked. Gohan glared at him and sat up, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the hilt reflecting the bright sunlight. It was mocking him, he knew it.

Approaching the sword more cautiously this time, Gohan placed his hands around the sword hilt once more. He yanked upward with all his might, but the sword did not budge. Glaring at it once more, the teenager powered up into Super Saiyan. Grasping the sword yet again, he pulled. This time, he felt the slightest give and heard the slightest breaking of rock. Encouraged, he pulled again, but this seemed to be the extent of the sword's movement.

The hybrid growled. Was this thing glued to the rock? Maybe the Kai who had stuck it here had stolen some of Bulma's Valtenax; that stuff probably held together the spaceship that had taken Goku to Namek. Well, it had taken nothing short of an exploding planet to finally destroy the thing, so apparently similar power was needed. Gohan upped his power to level two, grasped the handle yet again, and pulled with all of his considerable might.

This time, there was a loud cracking sound. The sword slid free of the pedestal, sun gleaming across the flat of the blade as Gohan lifted it above his head. The teenager managed to get a quick look at the wire-wrapped hilt before he was falling backward again, the sheer weight of the blade an unexpected snag in his brief moment of glory. He managed to regain his balance just in time to see the broken pedestal slide off its foundation, one half on each side, and gave Shin a sheepish look.

"Um… whoops?"

* * *

Read and review!

~tp


	7. Smothered

Yes, back from the dead, with a slightly warmed over chapter. It's not the best (or longest), but let's face it: I've been stuck on this chapter for months. Writer's block is a... lady of the evening and all that. HOWEVER, I know where to go now. I've been trying to make the story as long as **AIE**, but somehow I don't see that happening... Oh well. Such is life. :/ I promise I'll try answer the multitudes of reviews that I've gotten over the past six months, when I can. If I have more than one from a single person, I'll just answer the last review sent, okay? :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Smothered**

Shin had gotten in trouble with Kibito for bringing Gohan to the Kai planet, just as he had predicted. After a particularly strident lecture about protocol that left even Gohan's ears burning, Kibito had rounded on the hybrid. "If the Supreme Kai was unable to extract the sword, how can a simple mortal like yourself—" And his jaw dropped as he spotted the naked sword in Gohan's hand. His consternation at the sight allowed Gohan to escape the same kind of lecture the Supreme Kai had received. When the older man regained his ability to speak, he once again began lecturing Shin, this time about how the Kai needed to think things through and consider the consequences of what could have happened. Gohan took the opportunity to disappear from the Kai planet, reappearing back in his and Goten's room and startling Goten, who was lying on the floor coloring.

"Gohan!" the little boy cried, leaping up and latching on to his older brother's leg. "Where did you go?" His eyes widened as they landed on the sword that Gohan was still gripping. He was oblivious to the fact that had Gohan not lifted the sword in time, he would have been skewered thanks to the lack of a scabbard. "Where did you get that?" Goten's voice was reverent.

The demi-Saiyan's arm was shaking under the strain as he held the sword above his brother's head. Transferring the hilt to the other hand, he gently let it come to rest on the floor, trying not to let the tip gouge a hole in the comparatively fragile wood. A scabbard was definitely needed. "I went to the place where Piccolo trained me," he answered. "I got the sword from the Supreme Kai."

Anything else Gohan could have said was cut off by the door flinging open and a sobbing Chi-Chi launching herself at her oldest son, who hurriedly lifted the sword above his head again lest she impaled herself. Goku came in more sedately, carefully taking the sword from Gohan's trembling hand. His eyes widened at the weight, but he grinned at the teenager's half thankful, half panicked gaze.

"Gohan, I'm so sorry!" Chi-Chi wailed. "Oh, my little boy! I can't believe you had to go through all that! And now you're back and you aren't the same little boy I remember and you just up and disappeared and I didn't know where you had gone and don't you worry because I'm here and Mommy will make everything better! Don't you worry! I'll take care of you!" The three males blinked in consternation as the mother abruptly began bawling again.

Gohan gingerly patted her on the back. "Mom, I'll be okay. Don't cry. I'm sorry I disappeared like that; I wasn't thinking straight. I'll try not to do that again, okay? Can you please stop crying now?" Goku picked up Goten and backed slowly out of the room, waving cheerily at Gohan's glare as he left his eldest to deal with the tears.

Gohan sighed in frustration at his childish father and hugged his mother closer, putting his chin on top of her head as he let her cry herself out. He supposed that he owed this much to her after putting her through hell for the past seven years, even if it was not really his fault. Of course, she put him through hell for eight years when it came to schoolwork…

The hybrid stiffened slightly at that thought, shocked that he had actually thought that. He should be grateful that his mother did that – she was only looking out for his future. Thanks to her occupation as a housewife and Goku's occupation as a hero that didn't get paid, the little family lived off the remnants of Goku's winnings from the World Martial Arts Tournament and the Ox King's remaining wealth from his days of marauding. She was just trying to make sure that he would be able to find a "real" job where he would actually get paid.

_Gohan, you are not infallible,_ the Supreme Kai's voice suddenly sounded in his mind. _There is no shame in thinking things like this. It is only when you act on them in a negative nature that it becomes a problem. Acknowledge what you have thought. Do not push it away and forget._

Gohan scowled again. 'Why were you looking in my head again?' he demanded silently, ignoring the advice.

Shin's reply was cool. _While you were in the coma, I delved into your consciousness many times, so many that a connection of sorts was formed. It is not unlike the one that you have with Piccolo, though I keep my side blocked off. A mortal mind, even one as extraordinary as yours, could not handle all that I deal with on a constant basis. I felt your emotions and knew that if I did not intervene, you would push this memory away and we would be back at square one, as you Earthlings put it._

The demi-Saiyan suddenly felt very small and chastened. 'Oh,' he replied eloquently. 'I see.'

_I know._ The Kai's voice softened. _Gohan, you have been through much. You have changed greatly from the young boy who was taken seven years ago, and your family and friends must understand that. That means that you need to truly talk to your mother. Do not act how you did seven years ago, repressing every negative thing that you thought. Let her know how you feel. Make her understand how much you have changed._

'Easy for you to say,' Gohan grumbled mentally. Shin laughed and his presence faded from the teenager's mind. The hybrid looked down at his mother and was surprised to see that she had managed to cry herself to sleep despite the fact that she was standing up. He gently picked her up, easing out of Goten's room and into his parents', laying her on the bed.

"She hasn't cried herself to sleep since you disappeared," Goku commented from the doorway. He was leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed, looking so much like Bardock that Gohan's throat tightened painfully. The teenager swallowed hard.

"It nearly killed her when we couldn't find you," the older man continued. "If it hadn't been for the fact that she was pregnant with Goten, I think she might have killed herself. You were her life from the second she found out that she was pregnant."

"Why are you telling me this?" Gohan snapped softly, covering Chi-Chi with a blanket. "I feel guilty enough already; you don't have to make it worse!"

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," Goku replied evenly, eyes narrowing. "No one is out to get you in this time, Gohan."

"Yeah, well, old habits die hard," the teenager said, brushing past him. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go train." He disappeared, reappearing yet again at the site of the Cell Games.

Goku arrived a second later. "Gohan, we need to talk," he said sternly. "I don't know where all this anger is coming from, but you need to stop taking it out on us. We can't help you if you don't let us." He fell silent as Gohan whirled around, golden flames whipping up into a frenzy as the stress of the past few days finally hit him.

"I don't need any help!" the demi-Saiyan shouted, teal eyes wild. "Don't you understand? Ever since I can remember I've been nothing but a burden to everyone! All I've ever been able to do is cause trouble! I have to do this by myself!" Tears rolled down his cheeks, evaporating in the sheer heat his power put out.

Goku shielded his eyes from the flying rocks and dust his son's power was kicking up, but otherwise remained unmoving. He merely waited, letting Gohan take his pain out on the landscape around them. Though he wanted nothing more than to go to Gohan and gather him in his arms like he used to do, he sensed that Gohan would not appreciate this anymore. He had changed so much from the open, trusting little boy he had been seven years ago.

"Kakarotto, what's going on?" a voice next to him demanded. "The entire planet is shaking!" Goku smirked slightly at the Saiyan prince's stubborn refusal to call him by his earth name. Same old Vegeta…

"Honestly, I don't know," the younger Saiyan replied. "He thinks that he has to take care of himself, but I don't understand why. He's back home. We can take care of him."

Vegeta had been sorely tempted to roll his eyes at the other man many times in the thirteen years or so since they had first met, but never had he been so tempted as right now. "Kakarotto, he had to take care of himself for the past seven years. Why would he want anyone to take care of him now?"

"But he's home now!" Goku protested. "Why wouldn't he want to relax and not worry about anything?"

"Kakarotto, he probably doesn't even remember how to relax," the prince pointed out. "I know it's hard for you to do, but try to think about it. He's been on guard constantly for such a long time that he couldn't let it down even if he wanted to."

The younger Saiyan blinked as he let this information soak into his head. "Oh."

"'Oh,' he says," Vegeta scoffed, scowling at his sometimes rival, sometimes ally. He looked back at the demi-Saiyan, who had finished with his power up and was on his hands and knees, crying. The prince sneered at the display of weakness before he spoke again. "Kakarotto, get out of here. I want a word with the boy."

Goku sputtered for a few seconds before he finally replied eloquently, "What?"

"You heard me!" Vegeta snapped. "Go away. Leave. Or do I need to use smaller words?"

The other man let the insult slide for the moment in lieu of the more pressing matter. "Why would you of all people want to talk to Gohan?" he pressed. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground rubbing his jaw where Vegeta had hit it.

"Because I want to, you idiot," Vegeta replied, and walked off to approach Gohan, making sure to do so loudly so he did not get disintegrated from that lovely Final Spirit Cannon of his.

Goku watched him go, still on the ground. He knew that Gohan would shove Vegeta's Final Flash up the Saiyan's ass if he tried anything, but that did not mean that he was not worried. But… something had flashed through the prince's eyes, so brief that Goku had barely seen it. If he did not know better, he would have believed it to be empathy. But this was Vegeta, right? He did not feel anything for anyone, save, perhaps, Bulma and Trunks. Oh, and Goku himself. But hatred was a far cry from empathy.

Deciding that Vegeta knew better than to do anything to Gohan, Goku stood up and dusted himself off before Instant Transmissioning back to the house.

'I hope you can talk some sense into him, Vegeta.'

Vegeta waited until his rival was back at home before he made another move. He knew very well what the Saiyan would to do him if he thought that the brat was being hurt. He refocused his attention on the blubbering mass of patheticness that was in front of him.

"Boy, stop that useless shit and stand up," the prince commanded. He was only slightly surprised when Gohan did what he was ordered to do immediately. Being on the run with Bardock for seven years had that effect, it seemed. From the stories that Vegeta had heard about the man, Bardock was a strict taskmaster. He would have had to be, if even half the total amount of purges he had gone on were true.

"Good," Vegeta said. "Now, what's your problem now? And don't even think about getting angry at me," he added, spotting the thunderous look growing on Gohan's face. "I'm not your idiot father. Unlike him, I actually know what it's like to go from watching my back all the time to barely having to at all."

Gohan nodded sharply, jaw clenched as he obviously tried to rein in his temper. 'Well, there's one problem right there,' the Saiyan thought, watching. 'He still hasn't gotten used to that Maze part of his personality. That's something he'll need to get under control, and soon, if he doesn't want a repeat of that whole Buu fiasco.' When he was satisfied that the brat was calm enough to continue the conversation, he did so. "I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart, you know. If you keep up like this, Kakarotto is going to be worthless as a sparring partner. I'm not about to humiliate myself trying to fight you either. So I'm only going to ask one more time: what's wrong with you?"

The teenager's face revealed his internal struggle, though Vegeta had no idea as to what the struggle was. Finally, Gohan admitted, "I don't know… All I know is that there's been someone around me almost the entire time I've been back, first when I was in the coma and then when I woke up. I feel smothered, and I have no idea what to do about it. I'm so used to being alone and all this… this company is too much. But I can't up and leave after I disappeared for seven years. That'll send everyone into a panic, no matter that they can feel me…"

Vegeta stayed silent for a moment, mind reeling. When he was finally able to speak, he spluttered, "That's it? You're throwing a temper tantrum because you feel _smothered_?" Whatever he had been expecting, it certainly was not that.

Gohan blinked at him. "Um… yeah," he replied, sounding confused and slightly embarrassed at the "temper tantrum" comment. Vegeta threw his hands up in exasperation.

"You need to get out of that house, boy. You're 18. Tell your idiot father and harpy mother that you're moving out," the Saiyan ordered. "I'm getting you one of Bulma's capsule houses and you can set it up wherever you want. I don't want to play shrink if all I'm going to hear from you is that you're feeling 'smothered.'"

"But how am I supposed to tell Mom that?" Gohan protested. "She'll kill me!"

Vegeta shrugged uncaringly. "Tell her what you told me," he said. He rose into the air and blasted off before his companion could say anything else.

Gohan watched him go. "Asshole," he grumbled, bringing his hand to his face and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He sighed, knowing that the older man was right. He needed to get out of his parents' house, or rather his mother's constant presence. It was oppressive, and he knew that it was just a matter of time before she started trying to force homework on him again. It would be a cold day in hell before he would pick any of that up at this point in time.

"Come on, Gohan, it can't be harder than dodging mercenaries, right?" the teenager chastised. "It's just one person – Dad'll understand. I think." Squaring his shoulders, he raised his fingers to his face and disappeared from the old battlefield, reappearing in what was soon to be the new.

* * *

Read and review!

~tp


	8. Unexpected Surprises

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Unexpected Surprises**

Gohan reappeared on the doorstep of his parents' home, an apprehensive look on his face. He could sense his mother's ki, busy as a bee. She was probably feeling guilty after taking her unexpected nap – she rose with the sun and worked hard all day and late into the night. Or at least, she used to do so. It had been seven years, after all, and it had only been two days since he had awoken. Though much seemed to be the same, he was sure that some things had changed and that he had just not seen them yet.

Before the hybrid's thoughts could wander any further (not to mention before he lost his nerve), he grasped the door handle and opened the door. Slipping in, he closed the door as quietly as possible in hopes of not attracting his mother's attention. Alas, the slight _snick_ of the latch catching drew her into the front room, and Gohan sighed mentally.

Chi-Chi's face brightened when she saw her first-born son standing before her. Gohan knew that it would take months for the giddiness of seeing him to fade. 'Then again,' he thought, eyeing the stack of books in her hands, 'it might go away in the next five minutes.'

"Hello, Gohan!" the woman said happily, to all appearances having forgotten about the crying fit earlier in the day. "You won't believe what I found!" She hefted the books into a more comfortable position. "They're your old school books! We can get started right away with catching you up on what you missed!"

'This was it,' he thought, looking at his mother incredulously. He had to say something now – she had given him the perfect opening. But how should he handle this? "Mom, I only woke up two days ago!" he tried first.

One slender eyebrow lifted. "Oh?" Chi-Chi replied sweetly. "And why is that a problem, Gohan dear?" Unspoken but clear in her suddenly fiery eyes was the question of "how dare you question your mother?". "If you can traipse around the world and play, you can certainly start on your schoolwork once again."

Gohan steeled his shoulders, not noticing his father's silhouette in the hall. "Because before that I had to deal with leaving the two men that I'd fought next to for seven years, being enslaved by someone to be his prize fighter, and having half a lifetime's worth of bad memories shoved back into my head," he said quietly, trying not to let his anger take control of him. "I'm also trying to adjust to life on a planet that has more than three people on it. Everyone is just hanging around trying to make sure that I'm okay and that I don't want for anything!" His voice had risen to a point just below yelling. "If they knew what I wanted, they'd just leave me alone!"

"Gohan!" Chi-Chi reprimanded sternly. "Everyone is worried about you. They've missed you – we've all missed you – and now you're trying to push them away just because you're uncomfortable? You're just being selfish now."

Gohan's eyes flashed. "_I'm_ being selfish?" he asked disbelievingly. "No, Mom, it's you who's being selfish. Did you ever ask me what I wanted to be when I was little?" He did not wait for an answer. "No, you didn't. You always told me what I was going to be. You crammed school down my throat from the time I was three. I probably could have had a college diploma by the time I was fifteen if all this hadn't happened. As it is, I could probably just take the tests and pass with flying colors." Chi-Chi was shaking, though whether it was out of rage or something else the demi-Saiyan could not tell. He felt slightly remorseful when he saw the tears in her eyes, and sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was not in the mood for his mother's tears. Once a day was quite enough, thanks.

"I'm not telling you this to make you feel guilty, Mom, although you probably won't believe me," Gohan continued. "I'm just trying to make you understand that I've changed. It's been seven years, and I've been living with Saiyans." He shrugged helplessly. "Between them and the fighting that's in my blood – which comes from you too, don't forget – I suppose that I didn't really have a chance."

The room was silent for a long moment. Gohan watched his mother like he might watch a wounded predator, ready to bolt at the first scent of danger. Chi-Chi stood in the middle of the room, still holding her beloved textbooks, head lowered and bangs now covering her eyes.

Goku stayed as still as he possibly could in the hallway. Though he ached to jump into the confrontation (not that he knew whose side he would have been on), he held himself back, realizing that this was something that Gohan needed to get off his chest. Chi-Chi had been an overbearing mother and her husband knew it. He really should have put his foot down when she told him that he was going to be a great scholar and not a fighter, but quite frankly he was still trying to get used to this whole marriage thing that apparently was NOT food.

Gohan had been born barely a year into their marriage, and though Chi-Chi was ecstatic, at first Goku had not been sure what to do with this little creature. All it did was eat, cry, poop, and sleep, and the routine rarely varied. By the time that Goku began to (slightly) understand just what being a father entailed, Chi-Chi had already drilled it into the little boy's head that schoolwork was the most important thing in the world. Of course, it was only six months after that when Raditz came to Earth to get Goku to become a "planet broker" like himself. Conversations of whether Gohan should be a fighter or a scholar were put on hold for a long time following that little adventure. By the time they finally decided that Gohan was old enough to make his own choices as to what he was going to do with his life, the Cell Games were upon them. Everyone knew what happened after that.

The Saiyan returned his gaze to his wife and son and was only half surprised to see that Chi-Chi had collapsed in Gohan's arms yet again, bawling. She certainly had a flair for the dramatic – sometimes he wondered how many of her displays were actually genuine when it came to situations like these. Whatever the case, he had missed something, and so stepped out from the hallway to find out what was going on. "What set her off this time?" he asked his son, laying a hand lightly on Chi-Chi's shoulder. The woman stiffened before whirling around and burying her face in her husband's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back automatically. It was practically muscle memory after being married for so long.

Gohan rubbed the back of his neck, and Goku was hard-pressed not to grin at the gesture, considering that it was something that he himself did on a regular basis. "I told her that I'm moving out," the teenager finally said. "Not far, but I need to be by myself for a little while. It'll be easier for me to sort out… well, everything that's happened. Vegeta's bringing me a capsule house, or something."

"So your talk with Vegeta went well then?" the Saiyan asked, looking down at the top of Chi-Chi's head. Her display was most definitely "real" this time around. Her baby was leaving her, no matter that Goten would still be there.

Gohan snorted. "Talk? He basically chewed me out for being 'weak,' as he would call it. He reminded me that he knew what it was like to go from keeping your guard up all the time to not having to keep it at all, so I'd better start talking." He shrugged slightly, a faraway look coming into his eyes. "Reminded me of Granddad. They're a lot alike, actually."

Goku raised an eyebrow but did not comment. Something told him to refrain from that line of questioning for the time being. Instead, he loosened his grip on his wife, who turned around to look at their son. "So… where are you going to go?" Chi-Chi asked, voice wavering slightly.

The demi-Saiyan blinked, confused. "Um… go?"

"Where are you setting up your… h-house?" the woman choked out. "Are you going to be on the other side of the planet?"

Gohan blinked again. "Why would I do that?" he asked, completely flummoxed. "I don't want to leave; I just need some space. I used to have my own bedroom, but…" He shrugged. "I don't want to kick Goten out of his room, even if it used to be mine. I was planning on setting the capsule house up next door. Even if I did live halfway across the planet, Dad could still get you there in a millisecond."

"BRAT! GET OUT HERE AND GET YOUR CAPSULE!" All three people jumped at the sound of Vegeta shouting in the front yard. By the time the two males recovered from what felt like busted eardrums, Chi-Chi had already stormed out of the house, her barely-banked wrath flaring up quickly. Goku and Gohan winced and cringed when they heard something that sounded suspiciously like a frying pan hitting a Saiyan head, though where she had gotten the pan, they did not know. Both had experience with the Son matron's mighty weapon and neither envied the Saiyan prince.

"OW! DAMN IT, WOMAN, YOU NEED PROZAC!" Vegeta yelled again, his voice sounding slightly fainter and out of breath as though he had moved away quickly. "KAKAROTTO, GET OUT HERE AND RESTRAIN YOUR HARPY BEFORE I KILL HER!"

Goku chuckled. "Guess that's my cue," he said.

His son grinned at him. "Yeah, have to go save Vegeta from that pesky human, huh?" They hurried outside – despite their light-hearted joking, both could hear the edge that had crept into Vegeta's voice and knew that he was close to doing something drastic. As everyone knew, Vegeta's version of "drastic" catered to the destruction of several planets.

Defying death itself, Goku reached out and snatched the pan out of his wife's hand, holding it high out of her reach. While he tried to calm her down (and, from the sound of things, still retain his bedroom privileges), Gohan ambled over to Vegeta, who glared at him. "I don't know how you live with that harpy," he snapped, seemingly forgetting that he was here to remedy that problem. "Here. Take it." He shoved a capsule into the hybrid's hand before blasting off hurriedly.

Gohan just shook his head at the fleeing prince, before walking past his parents (who had apparently gotten confused on the order of the phrase "kiss and make up") to the other side of the house. He clicked the top of the capsule and lobbed it about twenty feet away. There was no telling what kind of house Bulma had whipped up for him – better safe than sorry, right?

The demi-Saiyan was pleasantly surprised when the house was just a plain, normal capsule house: one bedroom, one bath, a living area, and a kitchen. He quickly glanced through it, confirming that the only bad thing about this being just a plain, normal capsule house was that it came unfurnished. On his way out of the door, he spotted a note and some cards on the counter. After confirming that his parents were still too wrapped up in each other to notice his disappearance (_really_, children were _not_ supposed to see their parents make out like they were teenagers!), he turned his attention to the note.

_Gohan,_

_I must admit, I was rather surprised when Vegeta burst into my lab demanding a capsule house for you. He wouldn't tell me what was going on, though I can guess that your mother probably pushed things too far. I imagine that she doesn't understand (or more likely refuses to see) that you've changed since you've… been away. Don't worry, I won't pry – we geniuses have to stick together, right?_

_Anyway, I'm sorry, but this was the only house I could get for you on such short notice. I did, however, take the liberty of setting up a bank account for you, as well as making up some IDs. I won't lie; I've been itching to hear about all the technology that you've gotten your hands on. It might be fifty years behind the times up in space, but on Earth? It's light years ahead of what we could accomplish right now. So, as of today, you're my advisor on all things space technology related, and as a gesture of confidence, I'm paying you your first month's salary in advance. So, go blow it on what you need to make your house (and yourself) look great! After all, Piccolo can't keep making clothes out of thin air and you're much too tall to wear your father's clothing. You're going to need some spiffy stuff if you're going to be working for Capsule Corporation. Have fun!_

_Bulma_

_P.S. What the hell – buy a top-of-the-line car too! Might as well really look the part!_

Gohan smirked at the note; Bulma was one hundred percent nuts. 'Of course,' he thought sardonically, 'there's a thin line between genius and madness, and I'm pretty sure that Bulma never stays on one side or the other for too long.' He gingerly stuck his head out the front door, only to find that Goku and Chi-Chi had disappeared, presumably into the house. Deciding that his parents would not notice him missing, he decided to swing by Bulma's lab to thank her before going shopping.

Focusing on Bulma's ki, the hybrid frowned. 'Now that's odd… her ki is different from what I remember…' he thought, confused. Shrugging it off, he transported directly in front of the woman, who shrieked in surprise. "Sorry Bulma," he said, trying and failing to smother a laugh. Bulma gave a rather poor impression of a growl and slapped his arm.

"Don't scare me like that, Gohan!" the woman reprimanded, scowling.

Gohan shrugged unapologetically. "It's so much fun, though! Thanks for the money, by the way." His grin faded. "Are you okay? Your ki feels different than I remember it."

Bulma waved her hand, brushing the comment away. "I'm fine, Gohan. Just feeling a little under the weather, that's all. I'm sure it'll pass soon." As if to belie her words, her face suddenly turned green and she hurriedly grabbed a trash can. Gohan, no stranger to various (sometimes disgusting) bodily fluids, merely held her hair back. As his hand brushed her skin, however, he felt a spark of… _something_, and he was pretty sure that the only reason he would feel that particular something was because… He stared.

"Bulma…" the teen said slowly, handing her a bottle of water he saw on the table, "are you're pregnant?"

"What?" the woman asked shrilly. "No, I can't be! Hey, don't do that!" This was directed at her companion, who had placed his hand on her stomach. He was absolutely positive now – he could feel the child's ki. Of course, with Vegeta as its father, that was not surprising.

"You're definitely pregnant, Bulma," Gohan said, taking his hand away. "I'm guessing that Vegeta doesn't know yet, since you apparently just found out."

Bulma sank into a chair, hand on her stomach. She was shaking slightly. "What if Vegeta doesn't want it?" she whispered miserably. "He barely tolerates Trunks as it is! Gohan, how am I going to tell him? I thought that he was going to kill me when I told him about Trunks!"

Gohan knelt down and carefully gave her a light hug. "It'll be okay, Bulma," he said awkwardly. "I can tell him if you want. Actually," and here he cocked his head slightly, "he's on his way right now."

"No." The genius drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "I'll do it. He shouldn't hear it from anyone but me."

"Do you want me to stay?"

"I'll be all right, Gohan, but thank you." Bulma smiled slightly. "You head out and go shopping. And don't pick something that your mother would pick out! Now shoo!" Gohan relaxed, grinned at her, then disappeared before she could hit him again.

"Woman, where's the brat?" Vegeta demanded. "I wanted to spar with him." His eyes narrowed and he looked at the trash can. "Did you do that?" he asked disgustedly. Bulma could hear the tinge of concern, however. She walked over to him and grabbed his larger hand in hers, placing it on her stomach.

"Vegeta," the woman said quietly, "I'm pregnant."

* * *

Gohan appeared in an alleyway, safe from prying eyes. He was not quite sure as to which city he had appeared, but he was not particularly worried about it. No one on the planet would be able to seriously harm him. He walked out of the alley nonchalantly, melting into the busy crowds with the ease of long practice borne from hiding from mercenaries.

The demi-Saiyan's sharp eyes took in the various fashions of both young and old men. Judging by the askance glances at the old man who was wearing calf high socks with sandals, that was definitely wrong. Neither did he like the black outfits with black make-up, black hair, and a bone white face – that was way too strange for his tastes. For the most part, however, he saw t-shirts, jeans, and a few types of suits. Ducking into the nearest department store, he followed the arrow entitled "Menswear" and came face to rack with a thousand different kinds of clothing.

Later, Gohan thought that he must have looked like the proverbial deer in the headlights, for a blonde girl with a nametag bounced up next to him. "Need some help?" she asked. Gohan nodded, dumbfounded at the sheer amount of material. "All right," the girl said, sounding like she had decided something. "I'll help you out! What do you need?"

"Um… everything…?"

The girl's big blue eyes widened comically. "Well then, let's get you started with the basics! First, you're gonna need underwear…" And she was off, motioning for a suddenly mortified Gohan to follow her.

By the end of the four-hour-long funds massacre, the teenager had spent a lot of money. Granted, he was starting from practically scratch, but still, over 100,000 zeni on just clothes seemed frivolous. He still had over three times that amount in the account, but it was still expensive. However, he bowed to Erasa's superior knowledge in clothes. At first, the girl had seemed like the average vapid teenage girl he had heard his mother ranting about once, but though she admitted that she did not take most things seriously, she had a width and depth of knowledge on the things that she _did_ know about (like fashion) that was astounding.

After Erasa handed him the four foot long receipt and the capsule containing all his purchases, Gohan asked a question that had been weighing on his mind since he realized that he had appeared in what used to be Orange City. "Erasa, why is this called Satan City now? Didn't it used to be called Orange City?"

"You're kidding, right?" the girl asked bemusedly. When Gohan shook his head, her jaw dropped. "Just a second," she ordered, and ran to the back. Within a minute she'd returned, purse in hand. "I'm going on lunch; I'll explain on the way. I can't believe you don't know the story! Man, you must really live out in the middle of nowhere!" Gohan held the door open for her and she stopped just long enough to give him a smile of thanks. "Satan City is named after the greatest martial artist in the world, Mr. Satan! Don't you know who that is?"

"Um…" Gohan thought back, and a vision of a gigantic hairy… oh wait, that was Vegeta's Oozaru form… "Oh, that big guy with the black afro that yells a lot?"

Erasa giggled. "Yeah, I guess you could describe him like that. Anyway, he lives here. After he defeated Cell, the city council decided to change the city's name in honor of Earth's Savior!" She walked a few more feet before she realized that Gohan had stopped walking. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking at him strangely.

"Satan?" the hybrid repeated, his voice sounding somewhat strangled even to his own ears. "_Mr. Satan_ defeated Cell?" He could not help it; he laughed. It was not just a chuckle, either – it was a deep, gut-busting laugh that shook him so hard he had to sit down in the middle of the sidewalk. He should have known that the large man would have taken all the credit for Gohan's victory, what with the way he had been acting at the Cell Games. He would have to find out where the "Savior of the World" lived and pay him a visit.

Gohan's companion looked very confused, so he stood up, wiping his eyes clean of tears of laughter. "Sorry," he said, still sounding amused as they began to walk again. "But that's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time."

"I wouldn't tell that to Videl," the girl advised, obviously deciding to not question the sudden bout of hilarity. "She's Mr. Satan's daughter and my best friend, and her father is her hero."

The demi-Saiyan sobered immediately; he knew what it was like to have the illusion of his hero stripped down to what it really was. "I won't," he promised.

They stopped in front of a deli. "Well, here we are!" Erasa said cheerfully. "It was nice meeting you, Gohan. Here, give me your hand." Gohan did so obediently, and she took out a pen and wrote a series of numbers on it. "Give me a call if you want to go do something!" She winked at him and went into the deli, making a beeline straight for a girl with black hair pulled into pigtails and big blue eyes. Even with the image of Mr. Satan still in his mind, it was hard to connect the big, hulking man with this little slip of a girl. Her eyes gave her away, however – they were the same bright shade of blue as her father's. When she got up to greet Erasa, she did it so fluidly that he knew at once that she had been practicing martial arts for a very long time.

Suddenly feeling a bit like a stalker, the teenager turned away and walked down the street, hands in his pockets. It did not take him long to find a suitable alley from which to jump to the top of the roof. It took him exactly 1.3 seconds to find the Satan mansion (it could not be anything but a mansion). He smiled slightly, but it was not a nice smile. Though glad that there had been no media circus to hound his family and friends while they were still dealing with his disappearance, it still rankled Gohan's Saiyan pride that someone else was taking the credit for killing the overgrown bug that had almost killed him. The buffoon had helped despite his bumbling, but it was the principle of the thing.

The smile deepened.

Psychological warfare was such a nice, clean way to deal with this sort of thing.

* * *

Read and review!

~tp


	9. Chapter 9

I'm baaaaack! Thank you to everyone who has left a review or private messaged me during this (extremely long) hiatus. Had it not been for you, I would have just deleted this story entirely.

Yes, I am totally, 100 percent aware that it's been over two years since I've updated, but if you've read my profile since December, you'll understand why. Long story short: got married, student taught, graduated, got pregnant, had a baby. Babies are time suckers, and Junebug is no exception.

Anyway... I've been stuck on this chapter the entire two and a bit years. I know that it's not exactly up to par with my normal writing, but I decided that I needed to push through this chapter. Which is good, because it opened up a whole new can of worms that I hadn't thought of before. Hope you like it at least a little bit!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

* * *

Mr. Satan opened the door to his massive residence and, once through the doorway, closed it with a relieved sigh. If he had known just what he was getting into when he claimed to have defeated Cell, he would have had second thoughts about it. The constant functions and press releases and publicity stunts and whatnot were starting to wear on the big man. All he wanted was just one day to himself, to relax and not have to feed his adoring public's appetite for his (and he freely admitted this, if only to himself) ridiculous antics and showmanship.

The large man turned, intent on going to his room and changing into something that was not a white cape with a large collar and a maroon gi. Down the magnificent hallway, up the grandiose marble stairs, past the opulent television room with its five flat-screen plasma televisions of various sizes, and through his ostentatious master bedroom suite he went, into the surprisingly small walk-in closet. He dropped his clothes carelessly on the floor, putting on an old, tattered sweat suit that had seen better days. It might look ratty, but the suit was the most comfortable thing he owned. (Except, he thought, his mattress. He loved his mattress – just the right amount of fluffiness and support, not to mention the amazing massage function that he had included. The royalties he received from allowing the use of his name had been put to good use by buying that mattress.)

Deciding to see what kind of trash was on the television today, Mr. Satan trekked his way back to the television room, intent on settling into his equally comfy chair. He pressed a buzzer underneath the light switch, though he did not bother to turn on the light itself, and asked the servant who answered to get him a big bowl of chocolate ice cream. Sometimes, he just needed to eat his cares away, and what better to do that with than chocolate ice cream? Confident that it would be done, he walked over to the end table beside his chair and pressed the "on" button on the television remote. The largest television sprang to life, illuminating the room, Mr. Satan, and the strange person sitting in Mr. Satan's comfy chair.

The man blinked in consternation, then blinked again, just to make sure that he was really seeing a young man in his chair. Tall, judging from how far his legs stretched out in front of him, fair skinned, dark hair, dark eyes. Very defined muscles, though his stature looked to be more of a runner's than a weightlifter's. Martial artist, then, if the gi was anything to go by. He looked somewhat familiar, but Mr. Satan could not place him. Considering that none of the servants had let him know the man was here, he was fairly certain that this was going to be a blackmail attempt yet again. "I don't suppose you're here for a friendly chat," the large man finally said, "but can it wait until I get my ice cream?"

Gohan was at a bit of a loss. Here he was, showing up completely unannounced and sitting in what was probably the man's favorite chair, and all he got was a "wait until I get my ice cream and then we'll talk?" He had seen a vague look of recognition in the blue eyes, but it seemed that Mr. Satan had no clue who he was. Seeing that the man was still waiting for an answer, he merely glowered at him.

"I'll take that as a yes." Mr. Satan nodded thankfully at him and then plopped down on the sofa angled beside the chair. Gohan raised an eyebrow. Apparently this whole "psychological warfare" thing was not all that it was cracked up to be. Or maybe the man's ego made him think that he was immune to damage. It certainly had at the Cell Games. The demi-Saiyan barely caught the grin from escaping as he remembered his shoddy explanation that he had just "slipped" out of the ring and would be ready for round two just as soon as he caught his breath.

While Gohan mulled this over, the door opened and a servant brought in the aforementioned bowl of ice cream. The woman tensed when she saw him, but it seemed that she knew better than to talk to him. Apparently, people appearing in the house without using the front door were common enough that there was some sort of safety protocol.

Mr. Satan took a few bites of his treat before looking up at Gohan again. Blue eyes appraised him for a moment. "So, what do you want from me? You look familiar, but I don't know where I would have met you," he said after a lengthy silence. "Are you from one of the gangs around here? The mob, maybe? I'm impressed at how you got past all the security measures without setting anything off. I had the best in the business set it up."

Golden light suddenly lit up the room. "Does this give you an idea?" Gohan asked, his voice darker and more menacing than it had been. Judging by the wide eyes and pale skin, it seemed that his quarry knew exactly who he was now.

"Ah."

Gohan goggled at him, reverting to his normal form in shock. He shows up without so much as a hello, acts all mysterious and dangerous, and basically threatens him with his Super Saiyan form, and he only gets an "ah?" He must have missed something in the lessons he learned from his grandfather. 'Or maybe,' said a little voice in his mind, 'you just suck at it. It's not like you've ever used it on anyone before. Should have had Vegeta do it.' Gohan scowled fiercely at that part of his mind and told it to go to hell, mentally of course.

"I was wondering when one of you would show up," Mr. Satan said, eating another spoonful of ice cream calmly. "Frankly, I'm surprised it took you this long. I'd expected you maybe a year from the Cell Games, not seven." He surveyed the flabbergasted demi-Saiyan in front of him. "So, what do you want? Money? Fame? Power? 'Cause I can tell you right now kid, it's not worth it. Oh, the money and the power are, but the fame? It can go to hell for all I care."

The man sitting on the sofa was not the man Gohan had expected to encounter. He had assumed that Mr. Satan would be the same as he was seven years ago - loud-mouthed, brash, and arrogant to a fault. This man was much different. He was subdued. His eyes were tired and his posture sagged under a weight that Gohan was startled to realize that he recognized. Being famous (or infamous, in his own case) was a burden that people did not understand until they had it. The pressure of being recognized by people and being hounded to death (almost literally, again in his own case) was much more than it seemed. Still… "Why did you do it?" the teenager asked softly.

"Why?" Mr. Satan let out a bitter laugh. "I could tell you a dozen things, none of them and all of them true. I was young, but I wasn't that young. My daughter is about your age, you know. I was making enough to get by, but I wanted more. I was the most famous martial artist in twenty years and I got knocked out of the ring with not even a punch, but a back-handed slap? And then some young punk comes and shows me up within five seconds of beginning the fight, doing things that I could only dream of doing. And then, you didn't even come forward to take the credit. So I took it. I was jealous. I was afraid. I was embarrassed. I was angry." He shrugged helplessly. "Take your pick."

The demi-Saiyan listened in contemplative silence, all thoughts of threatening forgotten in the wake of this unexpected camaraderie. "I can't say I understand," he finally said. "We never do this for the fame. We save the world because there's no one else who can. So I suppose that you really did us a favor, since we would never be able to go outside without being recognized and swamped by thousands of people. Still…" He sighed. "I wished you'd found one of us. Maybe given some of your money in compensation. My parents used to have money, but since my father stopped competing in the tournament, they haven't had much income."

The big man snorted. "People would trace that in seconds," he said derisively. "It might be an hour before your names were splashed all over the tabloids."

"Tabloids? What are tabloids?"

"Are you serious?" Seeing the look of honest confusion on the teenager's face, he smirked. "You really are a country bumpkin, aren't you?"

Gohan flushed. "Something like that," he muttered. He knew the man would not believe him if he tried to explain his story. "I assume that means that we would be famous. Or infamous."

"In a nutshell," Mr. Satan agreed. "I'm in there at least once a week now. Last time I was having randy sex with an alien. They even have pictures."

"If it makes you feel any better, I know of at least two people who have sex with an alien all the time," Gohan replied, and was gratified to hear the other man choke on his ice cream. It distracted him from the thought of his parents doing anything more than a chaste kiss on the cheek. Just because he was comfortable joking about sex now did not mean that he wanted to think about… that. Eurgh.

He watched Mr. Satan clean up the ice cream mess, thinking. Although the camaraderie was nice, he was still here to work out some sort of deal. His family needed some money – Bulma aside, they could barely afford enough to eat, and Gohan knew that his mother loathed relying on other people for help. "Mr. Satan," he said slowly, "isn't there _any_ way that there could be some sort of money exchanged where it couldn't be traced? Or is that something that can't be done above board?"

Mr. Satan shook his head immediately. "It would just find its way into the papers later rather than sooner," he replied. "If I could, I would. I think you know that."

Gohan tapped a finger to a lip. "You mentioned that you had a daughter…"

"I am NOT giving you my daughter, punk!" the large man exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "I don't know if that's how you country bumpkins do it, but we're in the city!"

"What…?" Gohan asked intelligently, honestly bewildered. "Why would I want her? No offense intended," he added hurriedly as the other man's face darkened further. "No, I was just thinking, what if I offer her lessons on how to fight like us? She won't ever reach my level; you have to have a certain… physiology for that. But if she's been fighting for a long time, she'll be able to be on par with Krillin, at least. We could work out some sort of payment."

Mr. Satan was silent for several long moments. It was obvious that he was thinking things through, trying to find a down side to this plan. Finally, Gohan was rewarded with a bright smile, very different from his normal, arrogant, pain-in-the-ass grin. "Brilliant idea, son. I'll have to spin it so it looks like I just want her to learn different fighting styles and you're the first one, but I think that should work." Then his smile dropped. "One problem, though."

"Which is?"

"Well, I've pretty much convinced everyone that what you do is just magic tricks. Videl believes it, too."

Gohan's grin was sharp and feral. "Don't worry, Mr. Satan. I'll show her differently."

* * *

Read and review!

~tp


End file.
